Fatal injury figures fall
1 min read
The number of fatal injuries in the UK manufacturing sector has fallen slightly, according to the first fatal injury statistics to be published since the recession was confirmed in January 2009.
Thirty-two fatal injuries to manufacturing workers were recorded, a rate of 1.1 per 100,000, representing a slight fall from 2007/08 (33) and the average for the previous five years (37).
The latest figures from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) reveal that the overall number of people killed at work in Britain fell to a record low: 180 workers were killed in the year to March 2009 – a rate of 0.6 per 100,000 employees – down from 233 in 2007/08 and 17% lower than the previous lowest total of 217, recorded in 2005/6.
HSE chairman Judith Hackitt (pictured) says the number and proportion of workers being killed in the workplace is likely to reduce in an economic downturn, but the number and the rate of fatal injuries increase when trading conditions pick up.
In other sectors, there were 26 fatal injuries to agricultural workers – a rate of 5.7 per 100,000 workers; in construction, the figures were 53 fatal injuries – a rate of 2.4 per 100,000 workers; and 63 fatal injuries to services workers were recorded – a rate of 0.3 per 100,000.
The new figures show that compared with the latest data available for the four other leading industrial nations in Europe – Germany, France, Spain and Italy – Great Britain has over the last five years had the lowest rate of fatal injuries
