C026:06 2 November 2006

HSC/E publishes health and safety statistics for 2005/06

The Health and Safety Commission (HSC) has today published the latest statistics on work-related ill health, workplace injury and enforcement in Great Britain. ‘Health and Safety Statistics 2005/06’ presents the top-level statistics, including reports on progress against the targets set in the ‘Revitalising Health and Safety’ strategy. More detailed data and commentary are available on the HSE website at www.hse.gov.uk/statistics. The document itself is at www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/overall/hssh0506.pdf [PDF 517kb]. (Other statistics have been published earlier in the year: please see Notes to Editors).

Work-related ill health

For ill health, there are new figures on self-reported work-related illness from the 2005/06 Labour Force Survey. The statistics also draw on surveillance data from specialist doctors in The Health and Occupation Reporting network (THOR), claims for disablement benefit under the Department for Work and Pensions’ Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB) Scheme, and deaths from mesothelioma and other occupational diseases.

The main features of the ill health statistics are as follows:

Self-reported ill health

• In 2005/06 an estimated 2.0 million people suffered from ill health which they thought was work-related, according to the Labour Force Survey (LFS).
• Around three quarters of the cases were musculoskeletal disorders (e.g. upper limb or back problems) or stress, depression or anxiety.

Ill health seen by specialist doctors

• Based on data from hospital specialists and occupational physicians in the THOR surveillance schemes, from 2003 to 2005 there were about 22 000 new cases of work-related illness per year. This is a partial estimate as the THOR schemes do not have complete coverage and many of the specialists will only see more serious cases.
• As with self-reported cases, mental ill health and musculoskeletal disorders were the most common types of illness: each accounted for just under a third of the total.

Ill health assessed for industrial injuries disablement benefit (IIDB)

• Figures for the last three years show that an average of over 7000 cases were assessed for IIDB. The largest categories were vibration white finger, carpal tunnel syndrome and respiratory diseases associated with past exposures to substances such as asbestos and coal dust.

Fatal diseases

• Thousands of people die each year from work-related diseases, mostly because of exposures many years previously.
• HSE’s current estimate is that there are 6000 occupational cancer deaths per year (true figure likely to be between 3000 and 12 000). This is based on old research and is currently being updated.
• Deaths from mesothelioma have increased from 153 in 1968 to 1969 in 2004. Latest projections suggest that they will peak somewhere between current levels and 2450 deaths some time between 2011 and 2015.

Workplace fatal and non-fatal injury

For workplace injuries, the key new figures are 2005/06 data on non-fatal injuries reported by employers and others under RIDDOR (the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations), supplemented by self-reported injury statistics from the Labour Force Survey.

The main features of the injury statistics are as follows:

Fatal injuries to workers

• There were 212 fatal injuries to workers in 2005/06, a decrease of 5% compared to 223 in 2004/05.
• Just over 40% occurred in two industries: construction (59) and agriculture, forestry and fishing (33).
• The rate of fatal injury declined throughout the 1980s and 1990s. The rate rose to 1.0 per 100 000 workers in 2000/01 and has dropped since then to 0.7 in 2005/06.

Reported non-fatal injuries

• 28 605 major injuries to employees were reported in 2005/06. The rate of injury was 110.1 per 100 000, down nearly 7% on the previous year. Over one third were caused by slipping and tripping.
• There were 117 471 other injuries to employees causing absence of over 3 days. This is equivalent to a rate of 452.2, which is 4% lower than 2004/05. Two fifths were caused by handling, lifting or carrying.

Labour Force Survey and reporting of injuries

• The rate of reportable injury estimated from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) was 1200 per 100 000 workers in 2004/05 (three-year average), a statistically significant fall since 2001/02.
• Comparing this with the RIDDOR rate of reported major and over-3-day injury, the level of reporting by employers was 49%.

Injuries to members of the public

• There were 384 fatal injuries to members of the public in 2005/06, a rise of 4% on the previous year. Around two thirds were due to acts of suicide or trespass on the railways.
• There were 15 374 reported non-fatal injuries to members of the public, an increase of 7% on 2004/05.

Revitalising Health and Safety targets

The statistics on health and safety at work inform the measurement of progress against the targets for reducing work-related ill health, injuries and working days lost set in the ‘Revitalising Health and Safety’ strategy. HSE’s approach to progress measurement is detailed in a Statistical Note published in June 2001; annual progress reports have been published each Autumn since then. All these documents are on the HSE website at www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/targets.htm.

HSE statisticians’ latest assessments are as follows:

Progress on work-related ill health incidence

• The Revitalising Health and Safety target is to reduce the incidence rate of work-related ill health by 20% between 1999/2000 and 2009/10; the pro-rata target for 2005/06 is a 12% reduction.
• The evidence suggests that incidence has fallen significantly since 1999/2000 for most categories of work-related ill health, and is on track to meet the ten-year target.
• There has also been a significant reduction in 2005/06, the first year of HSE’s three-year Public Service Agreement (PSA) target.

Progress on fatal and major injuries

• The Revitalising Health and Safety target is to reduce the incidence rate of fatal and major injury by 10% between 1999/2000 and 2009/10; the pro-rata target for 2005/06 is a 6% reduction.
• The available sources indicate no clear change since the base year in the rate of fatal and major injury to employees. It is therefore not on track to meet the ten-year target.
• There has been a reduction in the last two years including 2005/06, the first year of HSE’s three-year Public Service Agreement (PSA) target.

Progress on working days lost

• The Revitalising Health and Safety target is to reduce the number of working days lost per worker due to work-related injury and ill health by 30% between 2000-02 and 2009/10; the pro-rata target for 2005/06 is an 18% reduction.
• There has been a significant fall in working days lost per worker since the base period and it is probably on track to meet the ten-year target.
• There has also been a significant reduction in 2005/06, the first year of HSE’s three-year Public Service Agreement (PSA) target.

Enforcement

New statistics are also published today on enforcement notices issued and offences prosecuted by HSE and local authorities.

• In 2005/06 HSE issued 6383 enforcement notices, 25% fewer than the year before.
• Statistics for enforcement notices issued by local authorities are not yet available for 2005/06. Between 2000/01 and 2004/05 the number issued increased by 10% to 6420.
• In 2005/06 the number of offences prosecuted by HSE decreased by 23% to 1012 from 1320 in 2004/05.
• Statistics for prosecutions by local authorities are not yet available for 2005/06. In 2004/05 there were 332 offences prosecuted, a decrease of 19% compared with 2003/04.

Notes to editors

1. From 1992/93 to 2000/01, statistics relating to health and safety at work were published in an annual volume ‘Health and Safety Statistics’ and in the Health and Safety Commission’s Annual Report. Since 2001/02 the top-level statistics have been released in a ‘Highlights’ document and the details made available simultaneously on the HSE website. This year, like last, the statistics are being released in a pocket-size booklet, designed to give a brief, accessible guide to the key facts and figures. The detailed data are on the HSE website at www.hse.gov.uk/statistics.
2. Other sets of statistics have already been released this year: statistics of workplace fatalities were published in August 2006 in ‘Statistics of Fatal Injuries 2005/06’, available at www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/overall/fatl0506.pdf [PDF 1.2Mb]; and some statistics on work-related ill health were published in August 2006 in the ‘Occupational Health Statistics Bulletin 2005/06’, available at www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/overall/ohsb0506.htm.
3. As well as giving data for Great Britain, the statistics released today include figures for Scotland, Wales and the Government Office Regions of England. Statistical briefings for each of these (enhanced for this year’s release) are available on the website at www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/regions/index.htm.
4. 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.
5. The assessments of progress against the three targets represent HSE statisticians’ best judgments based on all the information currently available. They are subject to uncertainty - for example because some of the data come from surveys, which are affected by sampling error. This is why the assessment for working days lost is given in terms of a range of possibilities: in statistical terms, we can only say it is 'probable' that days lost per worker is on track to meet the target.
6. Arrangements for ‘National Statistics’ were launched by the Government in July 2000, to enhance the integrity and quality of official statistics. The National Statistics badge, which is on ‘Health and Safety Statistics 2005/06’ and this press release, means that the statistics concerned must be produced to high professional standards, subject to regular quality assurance reviews and free from political interference. To achieve this, the National Statistics arrangements include an independent Statistics Commission, a Code of Practice with supporting protocols, and mechanisms for consultation with stakeholders. Statistics on enforcement notices and offences prosecuted do not meet all the criteria to be described as ‘National Statistics’ – in particular, responsibility for the release arrangements does not rest with HSE statisticians – but they are included here for completeness. Further details about National Statistics are on the Office for National Statistics website at www.statistics.gov.uk/about_ns/cop/default.asp.
7. Copies of ‘Health and Safety Statistics 2005/06’ are free and can be ordered from the Statistics Branch, Health and Safety Executive, 4S.3 Redgrave Court, Bootle, Merseyside L20 3QZ, tel: 0151 951 4697/3392, fax: 0151 951 4703. The publication is also available online at www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/overall/hssh0506.pdf [PDF 517kb].

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