Safe Work Australia says the ACT has recorded the highest rate of serious construction injuries in the country.

Safe Work’s latest comparative performance report also shows Canberra had the highest rates of serious long-term claims in healthcare, retail, electricity and arts in 2015-2016.

Close to 24 out of every 1,000 construction workers made a serious injury or disease claim of over 12 weeks in compensation, compared to the national figure of 16 per thousand.

About 16 in every thousand healthcare workers reported injuries, topping the nationwide average of 10.7 per thousand.

Across all industries, ACT workers made serious claims at a rate of 3.5 per thousand.

UnionsACT secretary Alex White, said there was a decrease in the number of compliance activities - down an average of 84 percent – during the same period.

He said the drop in compliance came after WorkSafe ACT was merged into Access Canberra in 2014, showing the necessity of the previously separate body.

WorksafeACT was “focused on enforcing workplace safety laws, and holding unscrupulous unsafe employers to account”, Mr White told Fairfax reporters.

“Instead, WorkSafe was merged into the same agency that regulates motor boat licensing, gaming, pet registration and refund complaints,” he said.

“We have just had a crane audit and scaffolding audit where almost every single crane and scaffolding company failed the audit, and there were more than 600 serious injuries in the Canberra construction sector last year.

“How many more serious injuries and workplace fatalities does Canberra need before safety is treated seriously?”