Avoidable workplace accidents claim 26 lives in Scotland

HSE/SCO/124/2009 24 June 2009

Britain's workplace safety regulator today warned businesses in Scotland of the continued need to put safety first as new figures reveal the number of employees killed at work.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) today published provisional figures showing that there were 26 fatal injuries reported in Scotland in 2008/09, compared with 31 in the previous year.

Over the past five years there have been, on average, 30 deaths as a result of workplace accidents in Scotland.

The number of people killed at work in Britain has fallen to a record low with 180 workers killed in 2008/09 - down 17 per cent on the previous lowest total of 217, which was recorded in 2005/6.

Dr Paul Stollard, HSE Director Scotland said many of the deaths could have been prevented by simple and sensible precautions.

"The fact that 26 people failed to come home from work in Scotland last year because of avoidable safety failings is a terrible tragedy.

"There are families throughout the country who have been cruelly robbed of a loved one in incidents that in many cases were entirely preventable. We owe it to them and to the workers who have lost their lives to continue to put safety first.

"This is all the more important given the economic problems facing the Scotland. We know from evidence of past downturns that when the period of economic recovery comes it generally sees an increase in the rate and number of workers losing their lives.

"I don't want to be talking in 12 months time about a tragic rise in the number of our workers who have been killed simply doing their job."

HSE inspectors are called upon in investigate deaths in the workplace and in many cases find that they could easily have been prevented.

Judith Hackitt, the HSE chair, said:

"We very much welcome any reduction in the number of workers being fatally injured and the fact that the number for 2009/09 is a record low.

"There is inevitably variation in the figures year on year, but we can take heart from the fact that Great Britain consistently has fewer fatal injuries than comparable industrialised nations in the rest of Europe.

"This statistical snapshot needs careful analysis to help us to understand underlying factors, including the impact of the recession.

"Statistics on fatal injuries do not give us the whole picture. Work-related ill health is a significant problem and accounts for four times more working days lost than workplace injury, so there is still a major challenge we all face to prevent death, injury and ill health in all of our workplaces.

"These statistics are encouraging but there is no magic wand in health and safety. When those running organisations show personal leadership, and when workers are involved in tackling the risks that they face, safety can be improved and lives saved - that is how we can turn this encouraging sign into real sustained improvement."

The provisional figure for the number of workers fatally injured across Great Britain in 2008/09 is 180 − the lowest level of workplace fatalities on record. This corresponds to a fatal injury rate of 0.6 per 100,000 workers − a fall of 25 per cent on the previous year.

Notes to editors

1. Provisional figures for the number of fatal workplace injuries sustained across Great Britain in 2008/09 are as follows:
   • Scotland - 26 fatal injuries
   • Wales - 5 fatal injuries
   • North East - 9 fatal injuries
   • North West - 22 fatal injuries
   • Yorkshire and the Humber - 24 fatal injuries.
   • West Midlands - 12 fatal injuries
   • East Midlands - 11 fatal injuries
   • East England - 12 fatal injuries,
   • South East - 15 fatal injuries
   • South West - 22 fatal injuries
   • London - 20 fatal injuries
2. HSE's mission is to prevent death, injury and ill health in Britain's workplaces. It does so through research, information and advice, promoting training, new or revised regulations and codes of practice, and working with local authority partners by inspection, investigation and enforcement.
3. 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.
4. The figures for 2008/09 are provisional. They will be finalised in June 2010 following any necessary adjustments arising from investigations, in which new facts can emerge about whether the accident was work-related. The delay of a year in finalising the figures allows for such matters to be fully resolved in the light of formal interviews with all relevant witnesses, forensic investigation and coroners rulings.

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Issued on behalf of the Health and Safety Executive by COI News and PR Scotland.