Fresh warning after five workers killed in Cumbria

Date:

30 December 2011

Release No:

HSE/NW12Cumbria

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

Five people lost their lives while at work in Cumbria last year and 217 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 five deaths and 217 major injuries in Cumbria compare to six deaths and 270 major injuries in 2009/10. Another 802 workers suffered an injury or ill health which required them to take at least three days off work in 2010/11, compared to 768 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.

Steven Smith, HSE's Head of Operations in Cumbria, said:

"The families of the five workers in Cumbria 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 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 North West 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
   Lancashire	Blackburn	1	67	275	1	68	261
   	Blackpool	-	56	251	-	64	214
   	Burnley	-	35	152	-	55	164
   	Chorley	-	52	177	-	41	177
   	Fylde	-	34	88	-	41	102
   	Hyndburn	-	35	124	-	33	116
   	Lancaster	2	67	218	1	69	255
   	Pendle	-	38	137	-	34	131
   	Preston	1	83	304	-	98	346
   	Ribble Valley	-	31	99	-	24	101
   	Rossendale	-	21	92	-	29	72
   	South Ribble	1	43	179	-	59	190
   	West Lancashire	1	62	200	1	67	221
   	Wyre	2	37	108	-	34	121
   	Total	8	661	2,404	3	716	2,471
   Greater Manchester	Bolton	-	102	359	-	98	386
   	Bury	-	64	268	1	77	278
   	Manchester	1	303	1,092	1	317	1,124
   	Oldham	-	69	345	1	109	411
   	Rochdale	-	91	380	-	94	444
   	Salford	-	113	340	1	124	359
   	Stockport	-	96	314	-	128	366
   	Tameside	-	81	282	-	82	316
   	Trafford	1	96	331	-	114	348
   	Wigan	-	101	428	-	129	488
   	Total	2	1,116	4,139	4	1,272	4,520
   Merseyside	Knowsley	1	55	224	-	73	277
   	Liverpool	-	226	915	2	234	914
   	Sefton	1	79	330	-	73	305
   	St Helens	-	75	294	1	83	322
   	Wirral	1	97	422	-	119	390
   	Total	3	532	2,185	3	582	2,208
   Cheshire	Cheshire East	2	164	542	1	159	520
   	Cheshire West and Chester	3	139	494	2	164	505
   	Halton	2	47	241	-	64	237
   	Warrington	-	111	385	-	110	446
   	Total	7	461	1,662	3	497	1,708
   Cumbria	Allerdale	2	41	141	3	53	144
   	Barrow-in-Furness	-	28	112	1	30	93
   	Carlisle	-	50	229	-	61	224
   	Copeland	-	23	83	-	16	75
   	Eden	1	30	98	-	35	85
   	South Lakeland	2	45	139	2	75	147
   	Total	5	217	802	6	270	768
   Total		25	2,987	11,192	19	3,337	11,675

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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