Fresh warning after four workers killed in Derbyshire

Date:

30 December 2011

Release No:

HSE/283/EM

Four people lost their lives while at work in Derbyshire last year and 447 suffered a major injury, 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.

The four deaths and 447 major injuries in Derbyshire compare to five deaths and 458 major injuries in 2009/10. Another 1,405 workers suffered an injury or ill health which required them to take at least three days off work in 2010/11, compared with 1,543 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.

Rosi Edwards, HSE Regional Director in the East Midlands said:

"The families of the four workers in Derbyshire who lost their lives last year had to face Christmas without them. Hundreds of other workers have had their lives changed forever by a major injury.

"These statistics highlight why we need good health and safety in British workplaces. Employers need to spend their time tackling the real dangers that workers face and stop worrying about trivial risks or doing 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 would urge businesses to focus on helping to 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 Midlands during 2010/11 and 2009/10. Three-day injuries are injuries where workers had to take three or more days off work to recover.
   
   

   County	Local Authority Area	2010/11			2009/10
   		Deaths	Major injuries	'3-day' injuries	Deaths	Major injuries	'3-day' injuries
   Derbyshire	Amber Valley	2	72	209	-	78	254
   	Bolsover	1	27	119	-	26	100
   	Chesterfield	-	54	142	-	49	185
   	Derby	-	107	418	1	109	407
   	Derbyshire Dales	-	33	96	1	32	98
   	Erewash	-	36	107	-	45	148
   	High Peak	-	42	87	1	41	99
   	NE Derbyshire	-	31	99	2	32	110
   	South Derbyshire	1	45	128	-	46	142
   	Derbyshire Total	4	447	1,405	5	458	1,543
   Leicestershire	Blaby	-	37	137	-	41	138
   	Charnwood	-	52	177	-	52	205
   	Harborough	-	33	228	-	35	225
   	Hinckley & Bosworth	-	37	110	-	29	132
   	Leicester	4	134	649	1	154	604
   	Melton	-	23	67	-	30	75
   	North West Leicestershire	-	39	242	-	55	234
   	Oadby & Wigston	-	17	62	1	19	74
   	Rutland	-	23	51	1	14	49
   	Leicestershire and Rutland total	4	395	1,723	3	429	1,736
   Lincolnshire	Boston	-	46	198	-	46	206
   	East Lindsey	-	63	166	1	57	170
   	Lincoln	-	64	205	-	73	235
   	North Kesteven	1	52	232	-	41	199
   	South Holland	1	33	223	-	53	248
   	South Kesteven	-	62	230	-	65	224
   	West Lindsey	-	49	153	-	44	163
   	Lincolnshire total	2	369	1,407	1	379	1,445
   Northamptonshire	Corby	-	48	223	-	46	211
   	Daventry	1	38	147	-	39	165
   	East Northamptonshire	1	29	90	-	30	106
   	Kettering	-	51	182	-	48	174
   	Northampton	-	129	548	-	133	554
   	South Northamptonshire	1	23	74	-	28	85
   	Wellingborough	2	45	135	1	43	146
   	Northamptonshire total	5	363	1,399	1	367	1,441
   Nottinghamshire	Ashfield	-	57	209	-	56	186
   	Bassetlaw	-	69	292	1	70	333
   	Broxtowe	-	27	109	-	32	130
   	Gedling	-	30	86	-	26	108
   	Mansfield	1	40	134	1	59	186
   	Newark & Sherwood	-	87	192	1	79	227
   	Nottingham	-	175	709	-	184	696
   	Rushcliffe	-	29	90	-	23	85
   	Nottinghamshire total	1	514	1,821	3	529	1,951
   East Midlands Total		16	2,088	7,755	13	2,162	8,116

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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