New figures show workplace deaths down, major injuries static, but a large number of days off sick

HSE Press Release C056:02 - 10 December 2002

New figures published today by the Health and Safety Commission (HSC) show that 249 people were killed in work-related accidents around Britain in 2001/02 (43 fewer than 2000/01), there were 27,477 major injuries (47 fewer than 2001/02) and an estimated
40.2 million days off work due to illness and injury.

The report's highlights are available at www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/overpic.htm while the full report is at www.hse.gov.uk/statistics

The three most common causes of work-related deaths were: falls from heights (44 people); being struck by a moving or flying object (43 people); and being struck by a moving vehicle (40 people).

Slips and trips were the biggest cause of non-fatal workplace injuries, accounting for over a third (37 per cent) of the total. The three riskiest industries for major injuries were: mining (803 cases per 100,000 workers); the water industry (652 cases per 100,000); and railways (631 cases per 100,000).

In total, an estimated 40.2 million working days were lost due to work-related illness and injury - 32.9 million due to illness and 7.3 million due to injury. Of days lost due to illness, 13.4 million were attributed to stress, anxiety or depression and 12.3 million to musculoskeletal disorders, or MSDs (disorders affecting muscles and joints). An estimated total of 1,126,000 people suffered from MSDs, while a further 563,000 were affected by stress. Over the 12 months, there were an estimated 265,000 new cases of stress.

The riskiest industries in terms of self-reported illness were: agriculture and forestry (6,500 cases per 100,000 people working in the sector either currently or in the last eight years), public administration and defence (5,700 cases per 100,000) and construction (5,600 cases per 100,000).

In 2000 the Government and HSC set three 10-year national improvement targets to reduce: days taken off work due to injury and illness; work-related ill-health; and work-related fatal and major injuries.

Commenting on the figures, HSC Chair Bill Callaghan said:

"My first reaction is that these figures show little change - and I take no comfort from that. We have much to do to achieve a step change in health and safety improvement. This is only the second year in a ten-year programme, but I expect to see some momentum in following years.

"Occupational health is a key area for improvement and presents perhaps our toughest challenge. Stress and MSDs account for two thirds of all days taken off work due to self-reported illness - and these are the areas we have already targeted as priorities. Stress seems to be endemic in modern society, both inside and outside the workplace - and the rate of increase in recent years has been considerable. Many people talk about 'stress-management'. The key to reversing the upward trend is to avoid stress in the first place. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has already provided guidance to employers and we have a number of initiatives in place to get to grips with the problem.

Mr Callaghan continued:

"We have now established baselines for measuring progress to reduce the incidence of ill-health and days lost to sickness and injury. The figures - over 40 million days lost - bring home what a waste health and safety failures represent to Britain's businesses, as well as the pain caused to the victims. We will continue to work with employers, workers and others to drive down this unacceptable toll. This means we need to make progress in both the public and private sectors. When we launched our national improvement targets, we said the public sector should act as an exemplar. The figures for occupational health show there is still some way to go."

On work-related deaths and injuries, Mr Callaghan concluded:

"I am encouraged to see the reduction in work-related fatalities, but it is too soon to tell whether this is the resumption of a downward trend. Every death is one too many. I am also concerned by the rate of major injuries, and by the fact that there has been no significant movement here for a number of years. The key to progress is partnership between all those with an interest in improving health and safety at work."

Note for editors

On 7 June 2000, HSC Chair Bill Callaghan and Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott launched the Revitalising Health and Safety initiative. This aims to achieve, by the year 2010, the following national improvement targets: reduce the incidence of working days lost from ill-health by 30 per cent; reduce the incidence of people suffering from work-related ill-health by 20 per cent; and reduce the rate of fatal and major injury accidents by 10 per cent. There is an additional target to achieve half of each improvement by the year 2004. To help deliver the targets, HSC identified eight priority areas - major hazards and worst-performing sectors of industry - where improvement is most needed. These are: musculoskeletal disorders; stress; construction; agriculture; the health service; falls from heights; slips and trips; and work-related transport.

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