HSC "not complacent" as fatal injuries fall

News | HSW
01.10.2006

Fatal injuries to workers fell to their lowest ever level last year according to the Health and Safety Commission's (HSC) latest statistics, published last month.

The reduction in the rate of fatal injuries means that the HSC has only narrowly missed its Revitalising Health and Safety strategy target for 2010 of a 10% reduction on the 1999-2000 baseline rate.

In 2005-06 a total of 212 workers were fatally injured, a fall of 5% from 223 in 2004-5. The fatal injury rate also fell by 5% from 0.75 per 100,000 workers in 2004-05 to 0.71 last year.

The usual suspects of construction and agriculture, fisheries and food accounted for 92 of the 212 fatal injuries in 2005-06, at 59 and 33 deaths respectively. For construction, this represents a 14% reduction in the number of fatal injuries from 69 in 2004-05. The rate of fatal injury in construction also fell - from 3.5 per 100 000 workers in 2004-05 to three per 100 000 in 2005-06, the lowest level on record. HSC statistician John Hodgson attributed the improvement in the construction industry to "a real decrease in risk, not just statistical variations".

While there has been real progress in construction, HSC chair Bill Callaghan drew attention to the waste recycling and refuse disposal sectors, where the number of fatal injuries has increased as the industry has grown in size. A sequence of nine fatal accidents in eight weeks, involving both workers and members of the public, prompted the HSE to issue a safety alert to the industry in March.

Falls from height are still the most common form of fatal injury but there is evidence that the HSE's campaigns to promote safe working at height are having positive results: the number of deaths in 2005-06 attributable to falls from height was 46, the lowest on record. The next most common causes of fatal injury were being struck by a moving vehicle and being struck by a moving or falling object. (Our series on managing workplace transport risk starts on page 14.)

Commenting on the figures, Callaghan said there was cause to be "proud" of the improvements achieved, but that 212 fatalities was "still far too many". He added that there was "some distance to go to realise our vision of health and safety as a cornerstone of a civilised society".

Statistics of Fatal Injuries 2005-06 can be accessed at www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/overall/fatl0506.pdf and statistics from previous years are available at www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/books.htm#fnf