Health and Safety
Executive / Commission
Statistics
The extractive industries include: coalmines, open cast mining, quarrying, extraction of oil and gas and the supply of electricity, gas and water. The statistics cover employees, as there are relatively few self-employed people in these industries. The number of fatal injuries in the extractive and utility supply industries rose from 5 in 2005/06 to 10 in 2006/07. The numbers and rate of fatal injuries have fluctuated since 1996/97 with no overall trend. The rate of fatal injury to employees rose from 3.3 in 2005/06 to 6.4 in 2006/07.
The number of reported major injuries reported increased by 1 in 2005/06 to 386 from 385 in 2006/07. These are the lowest in the period and continue the general downward trend from 1996/97.
The rate of major injury in the industry fell by 4% from 257.3 in 2005/06 to 246.5 in 2006/07. Slipping or tripping was the most common kind of major injury in 2006/07 accounting for 143 of 386 injuries (37%) and being struck by a moving object accounted for 65 injuries (17%).
Based on the Labour Force Survey (LFS), sample numbers were too small to provide a reliable rate for the extractive and utility supply industry in 2005/06 (three-year average). However, the rate of reportable non-fatal injury in extractive industries was between 720 and 1900 per 100 000 workers (0.72% to 1.9%) in 2004/05 (three-year average), similar (not statistically significantly different) to the average for all industries (1100 per 100 000 workers – 1.1%).
The RIDDOR rate of reported non-fatal injury in this sector has shown a slight downward trend in the last six years, and currently stands at 1 103 injuries per 100 000 employees.
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 extractive and utility supply industry suffered from an illness which was caused or made worse by this job (See Table WRIIND2). The associated prevalence rate, 5500 per 100 000 people (5.5%) working in the last year, was of a similar order (not statistically significantly different) to the rate for all industries (3900 per 100 000 people – 3.9%).
Comparing this rate for the extractive and utility supply industry 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 2100 and 5200 people – between 2.1% and 5.2%), 2003/04 (between 1900 and 4800 per 100 000 people – between 1.9% and 4.8%) and 2001/02 (5000 per 100 000 people – 5.0%). Sample numbers were too small to provide a reliable prevalence rate in 2004/05.
These two sectors each have a large legacy of historic occupational disease: asbestos-related for utility supply, respiratory disease and vibration related conditions in coalmining. These are reflected in the rates of compensatable disease assessed under the industrial injuries scheme (see Table ILLEXT2) along with above average incidence rates for musculoskeletal disorders and asthma.
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 extractive and utility supply industry was between 0.1 million and 0.71 million. (see Table WDLIND). This equates to an average annual loss of between an estimated 0.46 and 2.3 days per worker, similar (not statistically significantly different) to the rate for all industries (1.3 days per worker) and to the rates in 2005/06 (between 0.35 and 1.4 days lost per worker), 2004/05 (between 0.42 and 3.1 days per worker) and 2003/04 (between 0.57 and 1.9 days per worker).
Sample numbers were too small in 2006/07 to provide reliable estimates and rates separately for illness and injuries.