Industry news
Work-related deaths figure falls
Posted Wed, 28 Oct 2009
Deaths and injuries in the workplace have fallen over the past 12 months, according to figures released by the Health and Safety Executive.
The figures revealed a fall from 233 deaths at work in 2007/08, to 180 this year. The number of serious injury or illness sustained by people in the workplace fell by almost 7,000.
Over the past 12 months, around 29 million days were lost to illness or injury, down from the 33.9 million lost the previous year.
HSE chairman Judith Hackitt said the figures were "really encouraging", adding that the UK is one of the safest places to work in the EU.
She said: "Protecting people from harm caused by work remains important irrespective of the economic climate.
"Having shown that Great Britain can achieve a performance that compares favourably with other industrialised nations as we entered the global recession, the challenge now is to maintain that improvement as we move towards recovery and increased activity in some economic sectors.
"In spite of the encouraging overall statistics today let's not forget that they tell also a story of individuals and families who have suffered. This underlines the real risks that people can face at work every day."
HSE said it continued to take a tough line with firms which put workers at risk by breaking safety legislation, bringing 1,231 offences to court in 2008/9, and issuing 8,054 enforcement notices.
Copyright © Press Association 2009
Health and Safety Executive