Paper injury rates show less trouble at mills

News | HSW
01.04.2007

Paper makers have cut their average accident rates by a third in the past three years, according to new figures supplied to the Health and Safety Commission (HSC) by the Confederation of Paper Industries (CPI). The figures confirm the downward trend since the late 1990s, when the sector had one of the worst accident records in industry.

Since March 2004, the injury rates in paper and tissue mills reported under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) have fallen 33% to stand at 1153 per 100 000 workers. The RIDDOR average for all industries was 987 non-fatal injuries in 2005-06.

The HSC convened the Paper and Board Industry Advisory Committee (PABIAC) in 1979, worried about injury rates in paper and board mills comparable with the construction sector. PABIAC is made up of union, industry and HSE representatives and has worked to reduce accident rates in the industry. Andy Braund, CPI head of health and safety, said the committee's early work involved ensuring mills introduced guards on papermaking machinery. PABIAC members now analyse accident figures and target parts of the industry with help when they notice any worrying patterns. The CPI also circulates league tables of members' accident rates. "That generates a lot of competition," said Braund. "Nobody wants to be Watford, everyone wants to be Man United."

PABIAC's main challenge is now the recovered paper sector which has high accident rates common to the waste industry - injury rates stood at 2165 per 100 workers in August 2006.

"Paper is nearly there," said Braund. "Recovered paper is coming from a long way back."