Health and Safety
Executive / Commission
Statistics
There were 14 fatal injuries to workers in business and finance in 2006/07, compared to 20 in 2005/06, a decrease of 30%. Of these 12 were fatal injuries to employees.
Both the number and rate of fatal injury have fluctuated in recent years, with no overall trend. The rate of fatal injury to workers was 0.2 in 2006/07, compared to 0.3 in 2005/06.
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 business and finance 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 2006/07, the number of reported major injuries to employees was 2645, a third successive decrease.
Slips and trips were responsible for 42% of major injuries to employees in 2006/07, 14% of major injuries were caused by handling, and falls from height accounted for 12% of all major injuries.
The rate of major injuries to employees in 2006/07 is 47.8, a decrease from 50.3 in 2005/06.
Based on the Labour Force Survey (LFS), the rate of reportable non-fatal injury in business and finance was 320 per 100 000 workers (0.32%) in 2005/06 (three-year average), statistically significantly lower than the average for all industries (1000 per 100 000 workers – 1.0%).
In 2006/07p, both the number and rate of RIDDOR reported non-fatal injuries to employees fell.
These two sectors present rather different patterns in terms of self-reported work-related illness, and these data are therefore shown separately.
The latest survey of self-reported work-related illness (SWI) carried out in 2006/07 estimated that 40 000 people whose current or most recent job in the last year was in the financial intermediation sector suffered from an illness which was caused or made worse by this job (See Table WRIIND2). The associated prevalence rate, 3100 per 100 000 people (3.1%) working in the last year, was statistically significantly lower than that for all industries (3900 per 100 000 people – 3.9%).
Comparing this rate for financial intermediation 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 (3000 per 100 000 people – 3.0%), 2004/05 (3600 per 100 000 people – 3.6%), 2003/04 (3000 per 100 000 people – 3.0%) and 2001/02 (4000 per 100 000 people – 4.0%).
SWI Table WRIIND4 shows that the estimated incidence rate in 2006/07 for the financial intermediation sector of 1700 per 100 000 people (1.7%) working in the last 12 months was of a similar order (not statistically significantly different) to the average for all industries (1900 per 100 000 people – 1.9%). This rate was also of a similar order (not statistically significantly different) to the corresponding rates in 2005/06 (2000 per 100 000 people – 2.0%), 2004/05 (2100 per 100 000 people – 2.1%) and 2003/04 (1700 per 100 000 people – 1.7%), but was statistically significantly lower than that in 2001/02 (2500 per 100 000 people – 2.5%).
More detailed prevalence data by type of illness are not yet available from SWI06/07. The SWI survey conducted in 2005/06 showed for the financial intermediation sector, the prevalence rates for musculoskeletal disorders (See SWI Table MSDIND2) and stress, depression or anxiety (See SWI Table STRIND2) were of a similar order (not statistically significantly different) to the corresponding rates in 2004/05, 2003/04 and 2001/02, for people working in the last 12 months.
The latest survey of self-reported work-related illness (SWI) carried out in 2006/07 estimated that 117 000 people whose current or most recent job in the last year was in the real estate, renting and business activities sector suffered from an illness which was caused or made worse by this job (See Table WRIIND2). The associated prevalence rate, 3300 per 100 000 people (3.3%) working in the last year, was statistically significantly lower than that for all industries (3900 per 100 000 people – 3.9%).
Comparing this rate for real estate, renting and business activities with corresponding rates from earlier SWI surveys indicates that the estimated prevalence rate in 2006/07 was statistically significantly higher than that in 2005/06 (2200 per 100 000 people - 2.2%), but was of a similar order (not statistically significantly different) to those in 2004/05 (2900 per 100 000 people – 2.9%), 2003/04 (3000 per 100 000 people – 3.0%) and 2001/02 (3100 per 100 000 people – 3.1%).
SWI Table WRIIND4 shows that the estimated incidence rate in 2006/07 for the real estate, renting and business activities sector of 1700 per 100 000 people (1.7%) working in the last 12 months was of a similar order (not statistically significantly different) to the average for all industries (1900 per 100 000 people – 1.9%). However, this rate was statistically significantly higher than the rate in 2005/06 (1200 per 100 000 people – 1.2%), but was of a similar order (not statistically significantly different) to the rates in 2004/05, 2003/04 (both 1400 per 100 000 people – 1.4%) and 2001/02 (1500 per 100 000 people - 1.5%).
More detailed prevalence data by type of illness are not yet available from SWI06/07. SWI surveys conducted in 2005/06, 2004/05, 2003/04 and 2001/02 showed prevalence rates for real estate, renting and business activities were of a similar order (not statistically significantly different) for musculoskeletal disorders (See SWI Table MSDIND2), whereas the rate for stress, depression or anxiety (See SWI Table STRIND2) in 2005/06 was statistically significantly lower than in 2004/05, 2003/04 and 2001/02, for people working in the last 12 months.
By contrast, THOR data (including the finance sector with about 30% of the combined employment) showed this sector with average (incidence) rates for musculoskeletal disorders (see Table ILLFB5)
Annual average incidence rates of occupational diseases seen by disease specialist doctors in the THOR surveillance schemes; 2004-2006
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 finance and business sector was 3.4 million, equating to an average annual loss of an estimated 0.87 days per worker. This was statistically significantly lower than the rate for all industries (1.3 days per worker), but was statistically significantly higher than the rate in 2005/06 (0.51 days per worker), and similar (not statistically significantly different) to the rates in 2004/05 (0.83 days per worker) and 2003/04 (0.71 days per worker).
Workplace injuries and work-related illness accounted for an estimated 0.3 and 3.2 million working days lost (full-day equivalent) respectively in 2006/07, with corresponding rates of 0.065 and 0.81 days per worker.
The injury rate was of a similar order (not statistically significantly different) to those of 0.085 days per worker in 2005/06 and 0.12 days per workers in both 2004/05 and 2003/04.
However, the ill health rate was statistically significantly higher than the rate of 0.42 days per worker in 2005/06, but was of a similar order (not statistically significantly different) to those of 0.71 days in 2004/05 and 0.59 days per worker in 2003/04 (see Table WDLIND).
