New figures published of fatally injured agriculture workers

Date:

28 June 2011

New official statistics published today show the number of workers killed in the agriculture industry last year has slightly decreased.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has released provisional data for the year April 2010 to March 2011, which shows the number of workers killed was 34 - a decrease on the previous year when 39 died.

Sandy Blair, HSE's Board Member for agriculture, said

"The number of workers killed each year in the agricultural industry remains stubbornly consistent.

"We must not lose sight of the fact 34 workers failed to come home safe. This slight decrease is obviously welcome and should give some encouragement to the industry to keep seeking improvement: a step in the right direction but one that will only continue to save lives if the effort is maintained

"Agriculture is as much a community as it is an industry, which makes these deaths all the more devastating. Across the agricultural community we are seeing an increasing ownership of the health and safety agenda, a genuine attempt to work towards removing the label of being one of the most dangerous ways to earn a living in Britain. There is certainly more to do and we have good reason to believe only continued effort across the industry will improve safety."

The rate of fatal injury in the agricultural sector has fallen to 8.0 per 100,000 workers. The change takes into account the latest Office of National Statistics (ONS) figures, which show an increase in the working population, as well as the fall in the number of deaths.

The average rate for the last five years has been 9.6 per 100,000.

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. Further information on workplace statistics can be found at www.hse.gov.uk/statistics
3. Further information on health and safety in agriculture can be found at http://www.hse.gov.uk/agriculture/index.htm
4. The rate of fatal injury for 20009/10 was 10.4 per 100, 000 workers
5. In each of the last five years, the number of fatal injuries has been:
   • 2009/10 - 39 workers died - finalised figures
   • 2008/09 - 25 workers died
   • 2007/08 - 46 workers died
   • 2006/07 - 33 workers died
   • 2005/06 - 33 workers died
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/industry/sic2007.htm

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