Fewer deaths and injuries but industry needs to focus on improvement, says HSE 16 November 2010

Fewer people in manufacturing are dying or being injured by their work, but the industry needs to try harder, according to latest figures from the HSE.

In Britain, between April 2009 and March 2010, the number of reported major injuries in manufacturing, such as amputations or broken bones, fell by 11%, from 4,331 to 3,863. During the same period, reported injuries that kept workers away for three or more days fell by 16%, from 17,460 to 14,678.

Also, 22 people died, compared to an average of 33 in the past five years, and seven fewer than in 2008/09. However, 158 employees per 100,000 suffer a major injury or are killed as a result of manufacturing, which is 50% more than the all industry average.

Meanwhile, although there have been improvements in the waste and recycling sector, the combined fatal and major injury rate is still more than four times the average across all industries.

Here, 416 employees per 100,000 suffer a major injury or are killed at work – down 10% on the previous year, but still high. Also, provisional fatality figures for the 2009/10 period show that four employees were killed in the sector - three fewer than in 2008/09 – but there was little improvement in injuries that kept people away from work for three days or more, with 2,151 in 2009/10, compared with 2,225 in 2008/09.

Geoff Cox, head of manufacturing for HSE, says: "We are encouraged that there are fewer deaths and injuries in manufacturing this year, but we cannot afford to become complacent. The actual rate of death and injury, though that has fallen too, is still significantly higher than that taken from across all workplaces."

And commenting specifically on the waste and recycling sector, he adds: "The injury rate, which is stubbornly consistent with that of the previous year, paints a stark picture of how much more needs to be done.

"As Britain moves out of recession and work starts up again, we must continue to focus on real health and safety. History shows that accident rates rise in such periods, as new workers are taken on and industry works closer to its capacity. We don't want these improvements to be lost in the economic recovery."

Brian Tinham

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Health & Safety Executive

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