Fresh warning after 1,123 workers seriously injured in Bedfordshire

Date:

28 December 2011

Statistics available for local authority areas (See Notes to editors)

A total of 1,123 people were seriously injured while at work in Bedfordshire last year according to the latest statistics.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has issued a fresh warning about workplace safety after the number of deaths rose across Great Britain in 2010/11. It is urging employers to make the safety of workers their top priority for 2012, and is reminding them of their legal responsibility to ensure lives are not put at risk.

A total of 171 people were killed at work in Great Britain last year, compared to 147 deaths during 2009/10. More than 24,700 workers also suffered a major injury in 2010/11.

Of the 1,123 injuries in Bedfordshire, 235 were considered to be major compared with 228 in 2009/10. 888 workers suffered an injury or ill health which required them to take at least three days off work in 2010/11, compared to 883 in 2009/10.

The latest provisional figures show that, on average, six in every million workers were killed while at work between April 2010 and March 2011.

High-risk industries include construction which had 50 deaths last year, agriculture with 34 deaths, and waste and recycling with nine deaths, making up more than half of all workplace deaths in Great Britain during 2010/11.

Simon Longbottom, HSE's operations manager in the East of England, said:

"Hundreds of workers in Bedfordshire have had their lives changed forever by a major injury at work.

"These statistics highlight why we need good health and safety in British workplaces. Employers should spend their time tackling the real dangers that workers face rather than worrying about trivial risks or pointless paperwork.

"It's important to remember that we still have one of the lowest rates of workplace deaths in Europe, but one death is still one too many. I'd urge businesses to help cut the number of deaths in 2012."

Information on tackling health and safety dangers in workplaces is available on HSE's website at www.hse.gov.uk.

Notes to editors

1. The Health and Safety Executive is Britain's national regulator for workplace health and safety. It aims to reduce work-related death, injury and ill health. 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. www.hse.gov.uk
2. The following table lists the numbers of deaths and injuries across the East of England during 2010/11 and 2009/10. Three-day injuries are injuries where workers had to take three or more days off work to recover.
   
   

   		2010/11			2009/10
   County	Local Authority Area	Deaths	Major injuries	'3-day' injuries	Deaths	Major injuries	'3-day' injuries
   Essex	Braintree	-	44	189	1	51	206
   	Brentwood	-	26	81	1	25	84
   	Castle Point	-	12	63	-	23	55
   	Chelmsford	-	68	251	1	53	274
   	Colchester	1	71	275	1	81	232
   	Epping Forest	-	46	141	-	39	166
   	Harlow District	-	38	146	-	29	197
   	Maldon District	-	16	47	-	32	47
   	Rochford District	-	19	57	1	19	69
   	Southend-on-Sea UA	-	62	188	-	48	189
   	Tendring District	2	42	145	-	38	141
   	Thurrock UA	1	80	256	-	79	309
   	Uttlesford	-	41	153	2	39	201
   	Total	4	647	2,255	7	625	2,444
   Bedfordshire	Bedford Borough	-	78	283	-	78	307
   	Central Bedfordshire UA	-	77	277	-	85	256
   	Luton UA	-	80	328	-	65	320
   	Total	-	235	888	-	228	883
   Hertfordshire	Broxbourne	-	24	100	1	30	120
   	Dacorum	-	42	169	-	42	170
   	East Hertfordshire	-	44	158	-	58	131
   	Hertsmere Borough	-	31	111	-	29	127
   	North Hertfordshire	-	43	127	-	46	150
   	St Albans	-	50	144	-	41	171
   	Stevenage	-	27	172	-	40	166
   	Three Rivers	-	24	65	-	16	60
   	Watford	-	39	135	-	34	154
   	Welwyn Hatfield	1	50	219	-	53	229
   	Total	1	374	1,400	1	389	1,478
   Norfolk	Breckland	-	59	229	-	76	211
   	Broadland	-	32	187	-	48	214
   	Great Yarmouth	4	40	113	-	40	115
   	Kings Lynn & West Norfolk	3	75	247	-	75	255
   	North Norfolk District Council	1	42	109	-	48	117
   	Norwich City of	-	81	231	-	77	252
   	South Norfolk District Council	1	42	137	-	37	158
   	Total	9	371	1,253	-	401	1,322
   Suffolk	Babergh	-	22	62	1	28	86
   	Forest Heath	2	62	174	-	71	173
   	Ipswich	-	48	198	1	40	210
   	Mid Suffolk	2	24	109	-	36	160
   	St Edmundsbury	-	43	177	-	71	211
   	Suffolk Coastal	-	53	236	-	53	261
   	Waveney	-	48	151	-	48	154
   	Total	4	300	1,107	2	347	1,255
   Cambridgeshire	Cambridge	1	73	289	-	85	296
   	East Cambridgeshire	-	61	130	-	49	108
   	Fenland	1	46	177	-	60	198
   	Huntingdonshire	-	77	280	-	72	290
   	Peterborough UA	-	96	353	-	122	423
   	South Cambridgeshire	-	47	148	-	51	188
   	Total	2	400	1,377	-	439	1,503
   Total		20	2,327	8,280	10	2,429	8,885

3. A list of the deaths reported to HSE during 2010/11 is available at www.hse.gov.uk/foi/fatalities/2010-11.htm. The information is updated on a monthly basis, and does not purport to be a formal statistical release. Subsequent investigation may determine that some are not reportable as workplace deaths, for example deaths due to natural causes.
4. Further information on workplace statistics can be found at www.hse.gov.uk/statistics.
5. Based on available data (2007), Britain has the lowest rate of fatal injuries to workers among the five leading industrial nations in Europe - Great Britain, Germany, France, Spain and Italy.
6. 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 three 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.
7. The figures for 2010/11 are provisional. They will be finalised in June 2012 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.
8. This year is the first year HSE has adopted the revised SIC 2007 classification codes More information is available on HSE Website http://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/developments/news/sic2007.htm

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