Employers urged to make health and safety resolution

As the New Year approaches, the HSE is making a renewed plea to businesses to make sure their health and safety practices are up to date.

The HSE's latest statistics http://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/overpic.htm, released in October, show that workplace deaths and injuries across England, Scotland and Wales fell in 2008/9. However, the HSE is highlighting the fact that there is still more to be done as in some regions the number of people injured or killed at work rose.

Workplace fatalities fell from 233 in 2007/08 to a record low of 180 in 2008/09, and the number of workplace injuries classified as serious or incurring more than three days' absence from work fell by over 7,000.Across England, Scotland and Wales, 29.3 million working days (equivalent to 1.24 days per worker) were lost to injury and ill health last year – compared with 33.9 million in 2007/08.

There were 28,692 major injuries at work in 2008/09, compared with 29,389 in 2007/08. The estimated number of self-reported injuries was also down from 299,000 in 2007/08 to 246,000 last year.

According to the HSE, the number of people estimated to be suffering from work-related ill health fell by 79,000 to 1.2 million, resulting in three million fewer working days being lost in 2008/09 – a total of 24.6 million. However, despite an overall fall in injuries and fatalities at work, in some regions there was a rise. For example, in West Yorkshire, the 2008/09 statistics show 8 people were killed, compared with 5 people in 2007/08. In South Yorkshire, 10 people were killed at work in 2008/9, compared 3 fatalities in 2007/08.

In the North East, the 2008/09 statistics show nine people were killed at work across the region while 1,390 sustained major injuries. The figures compare with seven fatalities and 1,341 major injuries in 2007/08.

David Snowball, HSE’s Regional Director for Yorkshire and the Humber, said:
“We should pause to reflect as a New Year arrives on the number of incidents in the past 12 months, and what we can do to stop the pattern repeating. Slips, trips and falls, handling accidents and incidents involving falling objects and moving machinery are consistently the chief causes of death and serious injury. Many of these injuries are entirely preventable. There are straightforward and sensible steps that businesses can take to manage the risks people face in their day-to-day work.”

The HSE brought 1,231 offences to court in 2008/9, and issued 8,054 enforcement notices.