Health and Safety
Executive / Commission
Statistics
The rate of fatal injury to workers in 2006/07p stands at 8.1 deaths per hundred thousand workers.
The number of fatal injuries to workers has fluctuated over the last decade with no overall trend. There has been a 40% decrease in the rate of fatal injuries to workers in the last four years 11.3 in 2003/04 to 8.1 in 2006/07p.
In 2003/04 there was a change to the employer database against which HSE non-fatal injury reports are assigned. This affected the spread of non-fatal injury numbers by industry. The change in coding practice affects injury numbers but not the corresponding workforce figures and hence injury rates will also be affected. The change was particularly marked in the agriculture sector. As a result injury figures prior to 2003/04 cannot be compared with more recent data for this industry group. In essence, they are two separate series. Until more data are available on the new basis, an accurate assessment of a long-term trend cannot be made.
In 2006/07p the number of reported major injuries to employees decreased by 6% to 437 from 465 in 2005/06, Slips and trips accounted for 20% (86) of major injuries in 2006/07. The next most common major injuries were hit by a moving or falling object at 17% (76) followed by falls from a height 14% (63).
The rate of major injury to employees in 2006/07p is 191.1, a decrease of 11% from 2005/06.
Based on the Labour Force Survey (LFS), the rate of reportable non-fatal injury in agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishing was 2000 per 100 000 workers (2.0%) in 2005/06 (three-year average), statistically significantly higher than the average for all industries (1000 per 100 000 workers – 1.0%).
In 2006/07, both the number and rate of reported non-fatal injuries to employees fell.
The latest survey of self-reported work-related illness (SWI) carried out in 2006/07 estimated that 18 000 people whose current or most recent job in the last year was in the agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishing industry suffered from an illness which was caused or made worse by this job (See Table WRIIND2). The associated prevalence rate, 5000 per 100 000 people (5.0%) working in the last year, was of a similar order (not statistically significantly different) to that for all industries (3900 per 100 000 people – 3.9%).
Comparing this rate for agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishing with corresponding rates from earlier SWI surveys indicates that the estimated prevalence rate in 2006/07 was of a similar order (not statistically significantly different) to those in 2005/06 (between 2200 and 5000 per 100 000 people – between 2.2% and 5.0%), 2004/05 (between 1700 and 4200 per 100 000 people – between 1.7% and 4.2%), 2003/04 (4900 per 100 000 people – 4.9%) and 2001/02 (5900 per 100 000 people – 5.9%).
More detailed prevalence data by type of illness are not yet available from SWI06/07. However, earlier SWI surveys indicate that the prevalence rates for musculoskeletal disorders (See SWI Table MSDIND2) in 2003/04 and 2001/02 were statistically significantly higher than the corresponding rate for all industries; sample numbers in 2004/05 and 2005/06 were too small to provide reliable estimates for musculoskeletal disorders. Corresponding rates for stress, depression or anxiety are not available, as sample numbers were not sufficiently large to provide reliable rates (See SWI Table STRIND2)
THOR data shows incidence rates substantially above average for asthma, vibration white finger and upper limb disorders (see Table ILLAGR3)
Data from the 2006/07 LFS and SWI surveys indicate that the combined estimate of the number of days lost (full-day equivalent) due to workplace injury and work-related ill health attributed to the current or most recent job in the agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishing industry was 0.4 million, equating to an average annual loss of 1.2 days per worker (see Table WDLIND). This was similar (not statistically significantly different) to the rate for all industries (1.3 days per worker) and to the rates in 2005/06 (between 0.28 and 2.0 days per worker), 2004/05 (between 0.20 and 2.0 days per worker) and 2003/04 (1.6 days per worker).
Workplace injuries accounted for between 57 000 and 0.3 million working days lost (full-day equivalent) in 2006/07 and work-related illness between 46 000 and 0.5 million working days lost (full-day equivalent), with corresponding rates of between 0.16 and 0.79 days per worker and between 0.13 and 1.4 days per worker.