Fresh warning after four workers killed and more than 370 seriously injured in North Yorkshire

Date:

30 December 2011

Release No:

Y&H/195/11

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

Four people lost their lives while at work in North Yorkshire last year and more than 370 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 376 major injuries in North Yorkshire compare with three deaths and 436 major injuries in 2009/10. Another 1,137 workers suffered an injury or ill health which required them to take at least three days off work in 2010/11, around 30 fewer than the 1,166 the previous year.

In Yorkshire & the Humber as a whole, there were 24 deaths and 2,609 major injuries compared with 23 deaths and 2,741 major injuries in 2009/10. Another 8,854 workers suffered an injury or ill health which required them to take at least three days off work in 2010/11, compared with 9,309 the previous year.

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.

Paul Spurrier, Head of Operations for HSE in Yorkshire & the Humber, said:

"The families of the 24 workers in our region who lost their lives last year had to face Christmas and a New Year without them. While there was a welcome fall in the number of major and other injuries in Yorkshire and Humber, there were still hundreds of workers who 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 Yorkshire & the Humber 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
   Humber	East Riding of Yorkshire	3	164	556	3	168	555
   	Hull City	3	189	596	2	178	595
   	North East Lincolnshire	-	107	300	2	79	331
   	North Lincolnshire	3	108	319	-	113	298
   	Total Humber	9	568	1,771	7	538	1,779
   North Yorkshire	Craven	-	19	59	1	21	54
   	Hambleton	1	37	117	1	50	149
   	Harrogate	-	77	205	1	90	216
   	Richmondshire	1	28	53	-	35	80
   	Ryedale	1	24	81	-	37	87
   	Scarborough	-	44	155	-	63	148
   	Selby	-	53	154	-	53	135
   	York	1	94	313	-	87	297
   	Total N Yorks	4	376	1,137	3	436	1,166
   South Yorkshire	Barnsley	-	90	280	2	91	339
   	Doncaster	-	181	662	2	149	672
   	Rotherham	2	123	393	1	128	407
   	Sheffield	4	231	869	1	273	886
   	Total S Yorks	6	625	2,204	6	641	2,304
   West Yorkshire	Bradford	2	214	823	1	212	845
   	Calderdale	-	92	257	-	100	284
   	Kirklees	-	162	516	2	175	588
   	Leeds	1	395	1,361	3	414	1,396
   	Wakefield	2	177	785	1	225	947
   	Total W Yorks	5	1,040	3,742	7	1,126	4,060
   Total Yorks/Humber		24	2,609	8,854	23	2,741	9,309

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. For more detailed information on deaths and injuries in industry sectors in the region, please use the following link https://handson.hse.gov.uk/hse/public/tablesimple.aspx?RID5
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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Issued on behalf of the Health & Safety Executive by COI News & PR Yorkshire and the Humber