New Zealand’s workplace injury rates are about twice those of Australia and almost six times those of the UK, according to a new report.

An independent taskforce on workplace health and safety has been commissioned by the NZ Government to make recommendations to cut the rate of workplace fatalities and serious injuries by at least 25% by 2020.

Taskforce Chairman Rob Jager says the number of people injured in NZ workplaces every year would “fill Eden Park almost four times. This is simply not good enough and needs to change.”

The report says more than 100 people die each year in workplace accidents, about 23,000 are injured seriously enough to be off work for a week and about 370 are hospitalised with life-threatening conditions.

It suggests a number of improvements, including bigger fines and tougher penalties for companies and directors.

Penalties for workplace health and safety breaches in New Zealand range from a discharge without conviction to a fine of $NZ500,000 ($397,136) and two years’ jail.

The report says the average amount of the 2438 fines imposed in New Zealand since 1992 is only $8275. Australia has a maximum fine of $3 million and the UK has an uncapped amount.

The taskforce says there is a worrying trend of regulators “relying on most businesses to perform well voluntarily” because there are fewer than 150 health and safety inspectors in the country, visiting about 10,000 workplaces a year.

Submissions to the taskforce close on November 16. The final report will be presented to the Government in April.