C028:06 1 December 2006

British health and safety measures up well - with more to do

The Health and Safety Commission (HSC) today published a performance report detailing the wide range of work that it has overseen during the past year to reduce work-related fatalities, injuries and illness.

Measuring Up… Performance Report 2006 gives a summary of the activities, initiatives and campaigns carried out by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and Local Authorities that have contributed to Great Britain’s record of having the lowest fatal injury rate in Europe. The report, which can be found at www.hse.gov.uk/aboutus/reports/performance, estimates that over 5,000 lives have been saved since the 1974 Health and Safety at Work Act by health and safety improvements that have cut workplace accidents.

Announcing the publication of the report, HSC Chairman, Bill Callaghan, said: “As a society, we’ve come a long way since 1974 when the current health and safety law was introduced and 600 people were regularly killed at work each year. Our most recent fatal injury statistics show that the number has reached a record low of 212, this is encouraging, but we still need to do more. The changing economy and the increasing number of migrant workers are key challenges.

“As illustrated by this report, HSE and Local Authorities are doing a great deal of work, frequently in close partnership with businesses, health and safety groups, other government bodies and trade unions. This is an important strand of the Commission’s strategy and shows that it is having tangible benefits for workers. The report also shows that the unique role and powers of health and safety inspectors to enforce the law continue to remain a vital part of our effort to drive up safety standards.”

As well as offering examples of the various initiatives, campaigns and strategies that have been implemented in recent years to improve health and safety at work, the 19-page document also features information on HSE’s work on regulating major hazards. In particular, it covers the on-going work into the Buncefield incident and HSE’s contribution to the energy review.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath, Minister for health and safety, commented: “I’m delighted by the work that the HSC/E, Local Authorities and all those who have an interest in improving workplace health and safety have done over the past year to improve standards for workers in Great Britain.

“With over 5,000 lives saved by reductions in workplace accidents over the past 30 years, and as Britain enjoys the lowest rate of workplace fatalities in Europe, we clearly have much to be proud of. But the death toll, and numbers of serious injuries and ill-health caused by work shows we still have much to do.”

Notes to Editor

• The reporting of health and safety incidents at work is a statutory requirement, set out under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 (RIDDOR). A reportable incident includes: a death or major injury; any accident which does not result in major injury, but the injured person still has to take four or more days off their normal work to recover; a work related disease; a member of the public being injured as a result of work related activity and taken to hospital for treatment; or a dangerous occurrence (which does not result in a serious injury, but could have done).
• European comparisons are compiled independently by Eurostat and relate to figures published in 2003.
• HSE publishes a full range of workplace health and safety statistics, these can be viewed at: www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/index.htm
• The ‘Revitalising Health and Safety’ strategy statement, launched by the Deputy Prime Minister and the Chair of the Health and Safety Commission in June 2000, set national targets to reduce the incidence rate of fatal and major injuries, the incidence rate of work-related ill health and the rate of working days lost from work-related injury and ill health. The targets relating to ill health were also featured in ‘Securing Health Together: A long-term occupational health strategy for Great Britain’, launched by the Health and Safety Commission and Executive, in association with other government departments, in July 2000.
• Further information about HSE’s activities can be found at: www.hse.gov.uk
• The HSC has overall responsibility for occupational health and safety regulations in Great Britain. The commission consists of 10 people nominated by bodies with an interest in workplace health and safety. They are sponsored by the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP). The DWP minister for occupational health and safety is Lord Hunt of Kings Heath.
• The HSE and Local Authorities are the enforcing authorities that work in support of the Commission. HSE looks after health and safety in nuclear installations, mines, factories, farms, hospitals and schools, offshore gas and oil installations, the safety of the gas grid and the movement of dangerous goods and substances, and many other aspects of the protection of workers and the public.

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