NEW FIGURES ON WORKPLACE DEATHS AND INJURIES SHOW NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGE

HSC press release C065:03 - 19 November 2003

New figures published today by the Health and Safety Commission (HSC) show that 226 people were killed in work-related accidents around Britain in 2002/03 (25 fewer than 2001/02), there were 28,426 major injuries (415 more than 2001/02) and 126,004 injuries causing 3 days or more absence from work, (3,651 fewer than in 2001/02). However, the rate of major injuries rose by 1.9% while the rate of over 3-day injuries fell by 2.4%.

Major injuries

The number of reported major injuries to employees rose by 1.5% to 28426 in 2002/03 from 28011 in 2001/02. The rate of major injury to employees rose by 1.9% in 2002/03 to 113.0 per 100 000 employees, from 110.9 in 2001/02.

The rate of reported major injury to employees increased in 2002/03 in agriculture, construction, manufacturing and services sectors, and fell in the extractive and utility supply sector. The most common cause of major injury to employees continues to be slipping and tripping, accounting for 37% of all major injuries.

Being struck by a moving or falling object accounted for 14% of major injuries to employees, falling from a height also accounted for 14% and being injured while handling, lifting or carrying objects accounted for 12%.

Over-3-day injuries

The number of reported over-3-day injuries to employees fell by 2.8% in 2002/03 to 126004 compared to 129655 in 2001/02. The rate of over-3-day injury fell by 2.4% in 2002/03 to 501.1 over-3-day injuries per 100 000 employees.

The most common causes of over-3-day-injuries in 2002/03 were handling, lifting and carrying, accounting for 39% of over-3-day injuries to employees, and slipping and tripping, accounting for 24%. Almost two-thirds of over-3-day injuries occurred in the services sector.

Working days lost from work-related injury and ill-health

There are no new data on number of working days lost from work-related injury and ill health this year. The latest information from self-reporting surveys, published in last year's Highlights, estimates that there were 40.2 million days lost per year in 2000/02, the base year. The next estimate of days lost will be for 2003/04 and will be available in a progress report in 2004.

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

Commenting on the figures, HSC Chair Bill Callaghan said:

"I am not surprised at these figures - they confirm the size of the occupational health problems we face and that progress on reducing injuries has broadly reached a plateau. I am disappointed that we have still not seen a step-change in health and safety performance."

"Our 'Revitalising Health and Safety' priorities remain the right ones, but our new Strategy for Health and Safety illustrates that we must be more imaginative in how we pursue those priorities.

"Some welcome signs are provided by the Falls from Height priority programme, where the number of fatal and major injuries both dropped in 2002/03. We still have a long way to go - falling from height remains the most common kind of accident - but we can at least be confident we are targeting the right areas.

"Successive falls in construction-related fatalities over the last two years are certainly welcome news, but we must be consistently seeing fewer deaths, fewer injuries and fewer assaults on people's health.

"The enforcing authorities - HSE and their local authority partners - cannot do it all. To deliver lasting improvements in health and safety, we must have real commitment from industry - and from many other stakeholders as well.

Note for editors

1. 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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