New figures published for workplace ill health and injury in Wales

Policy Notice

Date:

31 October 2012

Figures published today show slight falls in a number of key areas of workplace ill-health and injury in Wales.

The provisional statistics published by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) show that in Wales between April 2011 and March 2012:

• There were 5,863 reported injuries to employees in 2011/12, a fall of 4.4 per cent from last year when 6,125 incidents were notified. That equates to a rate of 519.2 per 100,000 employees. The five year average is 586.2 per 100,000 employees.
• Of these there were 18 fatal injuries to workers in Wales in 2011/12 and 1168 were classed as major injuries, compared with 11 fatal and 1414 major injuries the previous year.
• There were 4680 injuries keeping workers in Wales off their normal duties for three of more days in 2011/12. This compares with 4798 in 2010/11.
• 55,000 people said they were suffering from an illness caused or made worse by their work. A rate of 3940 per 100,000 employees.
• In 2011/2012, an estimated 1.9 million working days were lost (full time equivalent) to workplace injury and work related ill health. An average annual loss of an estimated 1.7 days per worker.

HSE regional director, Rosi Edwards, said:

"While it is encouraging to see reductions in levels of injury and ill health, there is still more to be done to drive these statistics down further.

"All of us need to focus on managing the real risks which lead to serious workplace harm and prevent workers from returning home safe and well from their jobs.

"HSE will continue to work with industry to ensure employers understand what their responsibilities are and do what is necessary to prevent lives being lost or ruined."

The toll of injury and ill-health resulted in 1.9 million working days being lost, an average of 1.7 days per worker.

Notes to editors

1. The full statistics, including comparisons to previous years, are available online at www.hse.gov.uk/statistics
2. In 2009, the most recent year for which statistics are available across the EU, the standardised rate of work-related fatal injury excluding traffic accidents, was 0.59 per 100,000 workers in GB, the second lowest in the EU.
3. The Labour Force Survey is a survey of households living at private addresses in the UK. Its purpose is to provide information on the UK labour market which can then be used to develop, manage, evaluate and report on labour market policies, and includes questions about work-related ill health, which HSE then publishes. The survey is managed by the Office of National Statistics in Britain.
4. 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 four 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).
5. The Health and Safety Executive is Britain's national regulator for workplace health and safety. It aims to prevent 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

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