Fatal injuries in the workplace, statistics for the full year 2007/08

The latest national statistics on workplace fatal injuries, produced by the Health and Safety Executive, were released on 30 June 2008 according to arrangements approved by the UK Statistics Authority.

The release provides a provisional full-year total for 2007/08. Finalised figures for 2006/07 are also provided, as are trends over recent years.

The key points from the latest release are:

• The provisional figure for the number of workers fatally injured in 2007/08 is 228, and corresponds to a rate of 0.75 fatalities per 100 000 workers.
• There is a long-term downward trend in the rate of fatal injuries. However, the year-by-year improvement has become less marked in recent years to the extent that there has now been very little change over the last six years. The figure of 228 for the latest year is completely in line with the average for the past five years (230). In terms of the rate of fatal injuries, the latest figure of 0.75 compares to a five-year average of 0.78.

Useful background information:

• The latest comparisons of workplace fatal injuries in Great Britain and other EU countries can be found at http://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/european/fatal.htm
• Non-fatal injury statistics can be found at http://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/overpic.htm
• The next quarterly release of fatal injury statistics in GB, covering 1 April 2008 to 30 June 2008, will be the end of September 2008.

Fatal injury statistics, 2007/08:

• Number of fatal injuries, as notified to HSE and local authorities

Coverage: Great Britain

Geographical breakdown: None currently. Statistics at local authority level, Government Office Region, and country will be available in the autumn.