Health and Safety
Executive / Commission
Statistics
Legislation at the time of the introduction of the Health and Safety at Work Act covered only those employed in mainly production and some service industries (excluding health, education and public administration sectors). The 1975 Health and Safety Statistics volume shows 651 employee fatalities for 1974. In the provisional year 2007/08 there were 166 fatal injuries to employees in these industries – a decrease of 75 % from figures in 1974.
In all industries in 2007/08 there were 179 fatal injuries to employees. Including self-employed deaths the number of fatal injuries to workers in 2007/08 is 229. In comparison with 1974 these are decreases of 73% and 65% respectively.
The rate of fatal injury has deceased by 76% over this period, from 2.9 in 1974 to 0.7 per 100 000 employees in 2007/08. The rate of fatal injury per 100 000 workers is 0.8.
Despite the expansion and diversification of Britain’s workforce the number and rate of fatal injuries at work are decreasing; only a quarter to a half of the reduction over this period can be attributed to a shift in employment away from manufacturing and heavy industry to lower risk service industries.
The requirement to report injuries to members of the public was introduced under the Notification of Accidents and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (NADOR) 1980. Although figures start from 1981 and show 71 fatalities to members of the public a comparison cannot be made with figures for later years; legislation under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 (RIDDOR 95) introduced the requirement to report fatal injuries due to acts of suicide or trespass on railway systems, which dramatically increased the number of fatal injuries to members of the public reported. Since 1 April 2006, enforcement of safety on railways has been the responsibility of the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR), who continue to provide HSE with notifications reported under RIDDOR since that date. Prior to this date, enforcement was the responsibility of HSE’s Railways Inspectorate.
In 1996/97 the number of fatal injuries to members of the public was 367 and the provisional number in 2007/08 was 358; deaths resulting from acts of suicide or trespass on railways were 252 and 263 respectively. Generally, the numbers of work-related deaths to members of the public have fluctuated across the period, with the proportion of fatal injuries due to acts of suicide or trespass on railway systems remaining relatively constant at about two-thirds.
Further detail on fatal injuries within main industries in Great Britain from 1981 – 2007/08p is available in the following tables.
