PREVENTABLE workplace injuries in the Mitchell Shire cost the state more than $4.5 million in the past year.

WorkSafe’s strategic programs director Trevor Martin said injuries to muscles, tissue, nerves and bones also accounted for more than half of all workplace injuries in Victoria.

He said the injuries were often overshadowed because there was no “blood on the floor.”

“Lifting a box, climbing a stepladder or navigating a slippery surface at work, might not set off alarm bells for most of us – but tasks like these cause more than 17,000 Victorian workers painful muscle and bone injuries every year,” Mr Martin said.

“In reality, workers in child care, retail, hospitality and other sectors not normally associated with heavy lifting, suffer debilitating injuries every day,” Mr Martin said. “Some people will see these advertisements and flinch, but we think this is the best way to make workers and employers recognise these injuries must be viewed seriously and that people in almost any occupation are at risk.

“Our message to Victorian employers is that regardless of their industry or business, they need to be talking to their workforce, identifying risks, and fixing them.”