Three big Australian supermarket chains are among the Australian companies with the worst injury rates, new figures show.

A new report - Safety Spotlight: ASX100 Companies & More – ranks MetCash as having the worst safety record among all ASX100 companies, based on how often injuries are recorded.

The researchers looked at how often companies recorded injuries which resulted to time lost from work (Lost time injury frequency rates or LTIFR).

The study found that Metcash, a major supplier for IGA supermarkets, recorded a rate of 14.1 injuries resulting in time away from the workplace for every million hours worked.

Media reports say Metcash’s remuneration plans did not even include safety as a criterion for assessing its CEO’s remuneration.

Metcash says this is not true, as there is a safety improvement key performance indicator in place for all the company’s key senior executives.

Woolworths was ranked second worst in regard to injury rates (10.4), followed by Qantas (8.9), and Coles Wesfarmers (7.6).

Other companies on the list included Tatts Group (7.3), Grain Corp (7.0), Myer Holdings (7.0), Stockland (6.1), Energy Resources of Australia (5.7), and Scentre Group (5.5).

Wesfarmers – one of Australia’s largest single employers - had the worst score for Total Recordable Injury Frequency Rate (31.9).

The report found that many companies in the ASX100 did not actually report their safety data, including big employers like Domino’s Pizza and TPG Telecom.

Interestingly, while hospitality and retail companies scored the highest lost time reported, those in mining, materials and heavy industry had the lowest rates. But resources and heavy industry firms still had the highest rate of workplace fatalities.

A Metcash spokesperson told Fairfax reporters that the company was looking at new technologies to improve employees’ safety.