Fresh warning after one worker killed in North Somerset

Date:

29 December 2011

Release No:

HSE/SW/11

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

One person died while at work in North Somerset last year and 75 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 death and 75 major injuries in North Somerset compare to no deaths and 70 major injuries in 2009/10. Another 266 workers suffered an injury or ill health which required them to take at least three days off work in 2010/11, compared to 273 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.

Nigel Long, Principal Inspector for HSE in the South West, said:

"The family of the worker in North Somerset who died had to face Christmas without their loved one. 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 South West during 2010/11 and 2009/10. Three-day injuries are injuries where workers had to take three of more days off work to recover.
   
   

   		2010/11p			2009/10
   		Fatal injuries	Major injuries	Over-3-day injuries	Fatal injuries	Major injuries	Over-3-day injuries
   Former Avon	Bath and North East Somerset UA	-	70	221	-	59	207
   	Bristol UA	-	187	753	-	224	754
   	North Somerset UA	1	75	266	-	70	273
   	South Gloucestershire UA	-	85	354	-	94	391
   	Total	1	417	1,594	-	447	1,625
   Devon	East Devon District Council	-	39	145	-	42	147
   	Exeter City Council	-	82	288	1	72	312
   	Mid Devon District Council	-	26	105	2	21	93
   	North Devon District Council	1	38	156	1	52	131
   	Plymouth UA	-	127	452	-	109	497
   	South Hams District Council	-	31	92	2	21	110
   	Teignbridge District Council	1	41	151	-	48	180
   	Torbay UA	-	35	158	-	41	180
   	Torridge District Council	-	17	65	-	25	72
   	West Devon Borough Council	-	19	55	-	20	78
   	Total	2	455	1,667	6	451	1,800
   Dorset	Bournemouth UA	-	60	196	-	72	217
   	Christchurch District Council	-	25	60	-	31	58
   	East Dorset District Council	1	25	75	-	34	71
   	North Dorset District Council	-	35	130	2	33	116
   	Poole UA	-	78	243	-	92	225
   	Purbeck District Council	-	17	92	-	28	74
   	West Dorset District Council	-	62	140	-	52	168
   	Weymouth and Portland BC	-	27	83	-	22	88
   	Total	1	329	1,019	2	364	1,017
   Gloucestershire	Cheltenham Borough Council	-	43	126	-	48	154
   	Cotswold District Council	-	42	92	1	40	79
   	Forest of Dean District Council	-	27	78	-	44	82
   	Gloucester City Council	-	68	180	-	64	170
   	Stroud District Council	-	49	119	-	38	128
   	Tewkesbury Borough Council	-	25	92	-	35	93
   	Total	-	254	687	1	269	706
   Somerset	Mendip District Council	-	59	173	-	43	148
   	Sedgemoor District Council	-	45	205	-	48	199
   	South Somerset District Council	2	106	234	1	73	287
   	Taunton Deane Borough Council	-	45	227	-	56	210
   	West Somerset District Council	-	13	39	-	27	43
   	Total	2	268	878	1	247	887
   Wiltshire	Swindon UA	-	97	335	1	100	423
   	Wiltshire UA	1	207	574	1	221	602
   	Total	1	304	909	2	321	1,025
   Cornwall	Cornwall UA	1	204	682	3	231	796
   	Isles of Scilly Council of the	-	1	2	-	1	2
   	Total	1	205	684	3	232	798
   Total		8	2,232	7,438	15	2,331	7,858

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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