New Health and Safety statistics

Statistics recently published by the HSE for 2008/09 show that there has been a significant reduction in the number of people killed, injured or suffering work related ill health. HSE’s Annual Statistics Report shows that Britain became a healthier and safer place to work last year with:

• Workplace fatalities falling from 233 in 2007/08 to 180 in 2008/09, which is a record low.
• A reduction of more than 7,000 in the number of workplace injuries classified as serious and reported under RIDDOR.
• A reduction of working days lost from 33.9 million in 2007/08 to 29.3 million in 2008/09.

Despite these encouraging results, Judith Hackitt HSE Chair, remains cautious as there are challenging times ahead.

“History suggests that when we start moving back into economic growth the rate of work related injuries will tend to increase. Preventing history from repeating itself is a challenge facing everyone with a stake in health and safety in the workplace – regulators, employers and employees alike: we all need to be part of the solution.”