Offshore safety statistics bulletin 2006/2007

Published on the HSE web site 2 August 2007

Fatal and Major Injuries to Offshore Workers

Provisional statistics relate to offshore incidents reported so far to Offshore Division and may change when final figures are available.

Figure 1:  Fatal and Major Injuries 1997/1998 – 2006/2007p

Figure 2:  Combined Fatal and Major Injury Rate 1997/1998 – 2006/07p

Based on provisional figures for 2006/07:

• there were two fatalities this year, compared with two in 2005/06, none in 2004/05 and three in 2003/04;
• there were 39 major injuries reported during the period - which is a 22% decrease on 2005/06 (50);
• There were an estimated 28,176 offshore workers in 2006/07, an increase of 22.12% on the 2005/06 estimate of 23,072 workers. These figures were obtained from an industry-based data source[1]. 
• The combined fatal and major injury rate decreased to 145.51 per 100,000 workers in 2006/07 compared to 225.4 in 2005/06.
• The decreasing trend in the combined fatal and major injury rate has thus been maintained for a fourth consecutive year.

Types of accident

Based on provisional figures for 2006/2007:

• the main causes of major and fatal injuries were related to slips/trips/fall (19), being trapped, struck by or striking against equipment (8), or injuries associated with lifts/pulls/pushes/swinging of loads (7) accounting for 83% of the total;
• 15 major injuries were to the upper limb[2];
• 25 major injuries were due to fracture[3].

Over – 3- Day Injuries to Offshore Workers

Figure 3:  Over 3-Day Injuries 1997/1998 – 2006/2007p

Figure 4:  Over 3-Day Injury Rate 1997/1998 – 2006/2007p

Based on provisional figures for 2006/2007:

• The number of reported over-3-day injuries has increased this year by 39 to 164 (31.2%).
• Based on the increased workforce figure of 28,176 workers, the over-3-day injury rate shows a 7.4% increase on that recorded for 2005/06, 584.1 per 100,000 workers compared to 541.8 per 100,000.
• The over-3-day injury rate has shown a fairly level trend since 2002/03, but rising slightly in 2006/07.

Types of accident

Based on provisional figures for 2006/2007:

• Slips, trips, falls, and other body related movements accounted for approx. 36% of over-3-day injuries whilst injuries related to lifting operations, handling of plant, push/pull activities accounted for approx. 20%;
• 84 over-3-day injuries (51.2%) resulted in injury to the upper limb[4];
• Over 7% of injuries were related to operation of doors (trapped fingers, impact from rapid opening of pressurised doors, etc.).

Incidence of Ill Health to Workers Offshore

• The total number of cases of offshore ill health reported was 20, an increase of 2 on the previous year. However, one of these cases included a food poisoning outbreak affecting 21 persons on one installation;
• The most common diseases reported were chickenpox with 9 incidents (up 3 on last year) and decompression related effects also with 8 incidents (none last year).
• There were no cases of mumps this year compared to 6 last year and 5 the year before that.

Dangerous Occurrences Offshore

Figure 5: Dangerous Occurrences 1997/1998 – 2006/2007p

Based on provisional figures for 2006/2007:

• 484 dangerous occurrences were reported, which is 7 less than during 2005/06, representing a decrease of 0.2%;
• Main types of dangerous occurrences reported were Hydrocarbon releases (35.5%), fail equipment offshore (26.4%), fail well (8.9%) and lift related (6%).

Hydrocarbon Releases[5]

Based on provisional figures for 2006/07:

(Supplementary data on hydrocarbon releases reported under RIDDOR, upon which Figure 6 is based, are voluntarily reported to HSE by operators on Form OIR12.  Final figures may be subject to variation depending on when OIR12 returns are made to HSE).

• The steady reduction in combined major and significant hydrocarbon releases levelled off in 2006/07 (74) compared to 2005/06 (73).
• The number of minor releases declined in 2006/07 (98) compared to 2005/06 (136).
• Overall the number of releases fell in 2006/07 compared to 2005/06 maintaining a decline in total releases since the peak in 2003/04.

A further breakdown of the headline figures contained in this Bulletin will be provided later this year in the annual Offshore Injury and Incident Statistics Report, produced as part of the HID Statistics Report (HSR) series of publications.

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Footnotes

[1]     Provisional data extracted from Vantage system via StepChange in Safety.

[2]     Upper limb includes finger/thumbs, hand, wrist and rest of upper limb.

[3]     Fractures to fingers, thumbs or toes are classed as over-3-day injuries and not as major injuries.

[4]     Upper limb includes finger/thumbs, hand, wrist and rest of upper limb.

[5]     Major Significant and Minor Release Severity Classifications are described on the HSE Website in the Hydrocarbons Release Database HELP facility.