Annual HSE report reveals state of occupational health and safety across the pond
In 2009/2010, the number of workers killed on the job in Britain fell to 152, according to statistics published by the Health and Safety Executive, or a rate of 0.5 workers per 100,000.
That’s down slightly from 179 in 2008/2009 (rate of 0.6 workers per 100,000) and significantly from 2006/2007 when 247 workers were killed (0.7 workers per 100,000.) Construction and agriculture were the two sectors that recorded the highest number of deaths, at 42 and 38 respectively.
The HSE, a government agency in the U.K., called the decrease in fatalities “statistically significant” compared to the average rate for the previous five years.
The annual report provides an interesting snapshot at the state of occupational health and safety in Britain. Additional stats from the report include:
•There were 233,000 reportable injuries, according to the Labour Force Survey, a rate of 840 per 100,000 workers.
•There were 28.5 million working days lost (1.2 days per worker), 23.4 million due to work-related ill health and 5.1 million due to workplace injury.
•1.3 million people who worked during the last year were suffering from an illness they believed was caused or made worse by their current or past work.
•2,249 people died from mesothelioma in 2008 and thousands more from other occupational cancers and diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD.)
The full report, a 28-page PDF, can be downloaded from the HSE at http://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/overall/hssh0910.pdf.
