Health and Safety
Executive / Commission
Statistics
There were 6 fatal injuries to workers in retail and wholesale trade in 2006/07, compared to 16 in 2005/06. This is the lowest number of fatalities in the period 1996/97 to 2006/07
The rate of fatal injury to workers in these sectors decreased from 0.3 in 2005/06 to 0.1 in 2006/07.
In the period 1996/97 to 2006/07 the rate of fatal injury to workers has fluctuated with no overall trend.
The number of reported major injuries to employees in retail and wholesale trades in 2006/07 is 3603, this is a slight decrease compared to 3720 in 2005/06.
The rate of major injury per 100 000 employees in these sectors has also decreased by 4% from 82.6 in 2005/06 to 79.7 in 2006/07. 38% (1369 of 3603) of major injuries resulted from employees slipping or tripping, 22% (779) as a result of handling, lifting or carrying, and 14% (509) were due to being hit by a moving, falling or flying object.
Based on the Labour Force Survey (LFS), the rate of reportable non-fatal injury in wholesale and retail was 990 per 100 000 workers (0.99%) in 2005/06 (three-year average), similar (not statistically significantly different) to the average for all industries (1000 per 100 000 workers – 1.0%).
The RIDDOR rate of reported non-fatal injury to employees in retail and wholesale trade fell from 415 in 2005/06 to 390 in 2006/07, a decrease of 6%.
The latest survey of self-reported work-related illness (SWI) carried out in 2006/07 estimated that 125 000 people whose current or most recent job in the last year was in the retail and wholesale trade sector suffered from an illness which was caused or made worse by this job (See Table WRIIND2). The associated prevalence rate, 2900 per 100 000 people (2.9%) 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 the retail and wholesale trade sector 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 (2600 per 100 000 people – 2.6%), 2004/05 (2500 per 100 000 people – 2.5%), 2003/04 (2400 per 100 000 people – 2.4%) and 2001/02 (2700 per 100 000 people – 2.7%).
SWI Table WRIIND4 shows that the estimated incidence rate in 2006/07 for the retail and wholesale trade sector of 1500 new cases per 100 000 people (1.5%) working in the last 12 months was statistically significantly lower than the average for all industries (1900 per 100 000 people – 1.9%). However, this rate was of a similar order (not statistically significantly different) to the corresponding rates in 2005/06, 2004/05, 2003/04 (all 1300 per 100 000 people – 1.3%) and 2001/02 (1400 per 100 000 people – 1.4%).
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 for the retail and wholesale trade 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 different) for people working in the last 12 months.
Incidence rates for this sector are below average for all disease categories recorded by THOR disease specialists (see Table ILLWHO5).
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 retail and wholesale sector was 3.4 million, equating to an average annual loss of an estimated 1.1 days per worker. This was similar (not statistically significantly different) to the rate for all industries (1.3 days lost per worker) and to the rates in 2005/06 (0.87 days per worker), 2004/05 (1.0 days per worker) and 2003/04 (0.97 days per worker).
Workplace injuries and work-related illness accounted for an estimated 0.8 and 2.6 million working days lost (full-day equivalent) respectively in 2006/07, with corresponding rates of 0.26 and 0.85 days per worker.
The injury rate was of a similar order (not statistically significantly different) to the respective rates of 0.19, 0.28 and 0.27 days per workers in 2005/06, 2004/05 and 2003/04.
The ill health rate was also of a similar order (not statistically significantly different) to those of 0.68 days per worker in 2005/06, 0.74 days per worker in 2004/05 and 0.70 days per worker in 2003/04 (see Table WDLIND).