HSC Safety at work statistics 2005 / 2006

The Health and Safety Commission (HSC) has today released their annual statistics relating to work-related ill health, workplace injuries and health and safety enforcement in the UK.

The figures in some respects were encouraging with the number of peaple absent from the workplace due to work related illness or injury fell from 40 million in 2000-02 to 30 million working days in 2005-06.

The number of people killed in accidents at work was also down with 212 fatal injuries to workers in 2005/06, a decrease of 5% compared to 223 in 2004/05.

Just over 40% occurred in two industries: construction (59) and agriculture, forestry and fishing (33). Fatal injury rates declined throughout the 1980s and 1990s.

Reported non-fatal major injuries to workers fell for the second year in a row to just under 30,000, a drop of six percent on 2004/05. The rate of injury was 110.1 per 100 000, down nearly 7% on the previous year. Over one third were caused by slipping and tripping. Agriculture and construction remain the two most hazardous industries, with average rates of self-reported non-fatal injuries to workers over the past three years of 2,020 and 1,790 per 100,000 respectively. There were 117 471 other injuries to employees causing absence of over 3 days. Two fifths were caused by handling, lifting or carrying.

Source Workplace law