The number of workers killed in Britain last year fell to the lowest level ever recorded but stakeholders remained wary of hailing the improvement in the figures as a sign that the overall battle is being won.
According to provisional statistics released by the HSE today (Wednesday), 180 people were killed at work between 1 April 2008 and 31 March 2009 — down from 233 fatalities last year, and 37 fewer than the previous record year of 2005/06, when there were 217 deaths. The 180 total corresponds to a fatal injury rate of 0.6 per 100,000 employees — 23 per cent lower than the five-year average rate of 0.77.
The figure also means that the HSE is well on track to exceed its Revitalising Health and Safety Strategy target to reduce fatal injuries by 10 per cent by 2010, and that, compared with the latest data available for the four other leading industrial nations in Europe — Germany, France, Spain and Italy — Great Britain has had the lowest rate of fatal injuries to workers over the last five years.
However, the HSE was keen to play down the significant drop in the number of fatalities, with chair Judith Hackitt pointing out that the provisional figures would require “careful analysis” to take into account underlying factors, including the impact of the recession. She added: “The number and proportion of workers being killed in the workplace is likely to reduce in an economic downturn, but we also know from the past that the number and rate of fatal injuries increase when trading conditions pick up.”
She acknowledged that the statistics are “encouraging” but warned: “There is no magic wand in health and safety.”
Most industry sectors experienced a corresponding decrease in fatalities, with the usual ‘big two’ — construction and agriculture — recording far fewer deaths than in recent years. In total, 53 construction workers were killed in 2008/09 — down from 72 last year — while the number of worker deaths in agriculture dropped to 26 from 46 the previous year. Manufacturing was the only major sector not to record a significant improvement, although it did see one less fatality than last year’s total of 33 deaths.
IOSH welcomed the news of the record low, saying it shows that health and safety is not the bureaucratic madness it is often portrayed as in the media. Said president Nattasha Freeman: “These figures show the true need for health and safety in this country. It shows that health and safety is not just mindless bureaucracy, brought in to make life difficult, or prevent us enjoying our lives. It’s about preventing true tragedy that destroys lives. Each worker killed in an accident leaves hundreds, even thousands, of people mourning the needless loss of a loved one, friend or colleague.”
Commenting specifically on the construction-industry figure, chair of IOSH’s Construction Group, John Lacey, said: “It’s a positive move that the number of people dying on Britain’s construction sites is falling, but no one in the industry should be patting themselves on the back. We’ve still killed 53 people — that’s far, far too many.”
He added: “The great frustration for me is that it’s still the obvious things that are claiming lives. People are still falling from height, being hit by falling objects, or struck by vehicles and plant on site. As an industry we are well aware of the risks that are present on our sites. The challenge is transforming that awareness into genuinely positive results in the workplace.”
The EEF’s head of health and safety policy, Steve Pointer said the figures for manufacturing were “very much as we anticipated” but also expressed the organisation’s relief that fears of a possible increase in fatal accidents as a result of corner-cutting in the recession don’t appear to have been realised. The challenge now, he added, is to “collectively get behind the new HSE strategy to turn its objectives into a reality. EEF has not only signed up to the HSE pledge, but we have also agreed a joint delivery plan with HSE. This kind of practical action will help us to maintain the pressure on reducing the numbers of workplace related injuries and ill health.”
General secretary of the TUC Brendan Barber said the record low figure should not be seen as evidence that employers are taking more care. Agreeing with Judith Hackitt that “falls in injury and death rates are usual during a recession because fewer new employees are being recruited and introduced into the workplace” he promised that “unions will be working with employers to make sure that this downward trend continues when the UK economy emerges from the current downturn”.
The Hazards Campaign welcomed the reduction in the fatality figure but called for action to address “the true extent” of work-related deaths, disability and injury. Said the Campaign’s Mick Holder: “The reduction must be taken in the context that the very many more people lose their lives because of work activity who are not recorded by the HSE, such as the huge number of people killed on the roads who are work at the time, or the thousands that die from asbestos diseases from contact at work. There are also still worrying areas, such as the increasingly poor record of the waste and recycling industry.”
The full statistical bulletin can be found at: www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/fatalinjuries.htm
