Days lost "probably" on target but injuries lag

News | HSW
01.12.2006

The government is "probably" on course to meet its 10-year targets for working days lost to ill health and injury, but has made little progress in cutting major injuries since 2000, according to the Health and Safety Commission (HSC).

Launching the illness and injury statistics for 2005-2006, HSC chair Bill Callaghan said the latest figures for working days lost (30 million days in total) was 25% lower than the baseline figures for 2000-02 and was "a success by any measure".

HSE senior statistician John Hodgson confirmed the figures show a downward movement but noted that since the figures are estimates based on samples from the government's Labour Force Survey (LFS), the real reduction could fall anywhere in the range from 15% to 35%, so the executive could only conclude it was probably on target for the 30% reduction in days lost by 2009-10. 

As reported in October's HSW (page 3), last year's total of 212 work-related fatalities was the lowest on record, down 5% on the previous year. But as Hodgson noted, "the picture for major injuries is less encouraging". Though the 28 605 major injuries to workers notified under the Reporting of Injuries Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) represented almost a 7% drop on 2004/05, it was still around the 1999-2000 baseline figure. Admitting the government was still not on track to meet the 2010 target for a 10% cut in the rate of fatal and major injuries, set in the Revitalising Health and Safety strategy, Hodgson claimed the  "'no ... but' qualified assessment is an advance on last year's 'no'".

An estimated two million people suffered from ill health they believed was work related in 2005-06 according to LFS figures; the most common complaints are musculoskeletal disorders and stress, as in previous years.