North East government office region (GOR)

Statistics of occupational ill health, safety and enforcement

• In 2008/09, an estimated 55 000 people in the North East, who worked in the last year, believed they were suffering from a work-related illness, according to the Labour Force Survey (LFS).  This equates to a prevalence rate of 4500 per 100 000 people (4.5%) working in the last 12 months.
• The incidence rate of reportable non-fatal injury in the North East was 1400 per 100 000 workers (1.4%) in 2007/08 (three-year average), based on results from the LFS.  This rate was statistically significantly higher than that of 970 per 100 000 workers (0.97%) for England.
• In 2008/09, the LFS showed that an estimated 1.9 million working days (full-day equivalent) were lost in the North East due to workplace injury and work-related ill health.
• In 2008/09(p), 9 workers were fatally injured at work, compared with 7 workers in 2007/08. The number of major injuries to employees recorded in North East rose from 1 310 in 2007/08 to 1 362 in 2008/09.
• In the North East, 45 offences were prosecuted by HSE, and 4 offences were prosecuted by local authorities in 2008/09.