The Government plans to introduce a voluntary star rating system for businesses to make their safety records more visible.

ACC Minister Judith Collins said the system, currently being developed by ACC and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, would encourage injury prevention and more effective workplace health and safety practice.

A Safer Workplaces report by the Independent Taskforce last month revealed New Zealand's workplace safety record is twice as bad as Australia's and four times as bad as Britain's.

It illustrated the scale of the problem by saying that those injured in the workplace each year would fill Eden Park four times over.

Collins said a star-rating would show evidence of a safe working environment for current and prospective employees, and would be an advantage for businesses when tendering for future work.

It will be available to all employers and self-employed people, using existing compliance data with online training programmes to make it easy for all businesses to apply.

Labour Minister Kate Wilkinson said the rating system was another important step in reducing the number of workplace accidents and deaths in New Zealand.

"People have a right to know that when they leave for work in the morning, they will be coming home safe and well at the end of the day," Wilkinson said.

The Government has set a goal of reducing workplace services injury and fatalities by 25 per cent by 2020.

The Safety Star Rating system is one of several initiatives to strengthen workplace safety detailed in the Business Growth Agenda report on Skilled and Safe Workplaces, which will be released this month.

- © Fairfax NZ News