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News Release from: HSE Health and Safety Executive | Subject: Health and Safety Statistics Highlights 2003/04
Edited by the Engineeringtalk Editorial
Team on 19 November 2004
HSE publishes 2003-4 statistics
highlights
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has published the latest statistics on workplace safety, work-related ill-health and enforcement action in Great Britain.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has published the latest statistics on workplace safety, work-related ill-health and enforcement action in Great Britain 'Health and Safety Statistics Highlights 2003/04' presents the top-level statistics - including reports on progress against the targets set in the 'Revitalising Health and Safety' strategy
This article was originally published on Engineeringtalk on 1 Jul 2004 at 8.00am (UK)
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This document, together with more detailed data and commentary, are available via the statistics section of the HSE website.
Workplace fatality and injury.
For workplace injuries, the new figures include 2003/04 data on non-fatal injuries notified by employers and others under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR), supplemented by injury statistics from the Labour Force Survey (LFS).
The main features of the injuries statistics are as follows: There were 235 fatal injuries to workers in 2003/04, an increase of 4 per cent on the 2002/03 figure of 227.
The rate of fatal injury to workers increased in 2003/04 from 0.79 deaths per hundred thousand workers to 0.81, an increase of 3 per cent.
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The trend in both the number and rate of fatal injuries was generally downwards in the 1990s; however there have been two rises since then, in 2000/01 and in 2003/04.
114 of the fatalities (49 per cent) occurred in the two industries of construction (70) and agriculture, forestry and fishing (44).
Nine per cent of all fatal injuries to workers in 2003/04 occurred in a single incident when 21 people drowned while harvesting cockles in Morecambe Bay.
The number of reported major injuries to employees was 30,666 in 2003/04, up 9 per cent on the previous year, with increases in many service industries, which are likely to reflect changes in reporting behaviour.
The rate of reported major injury to employees rose by 9 per cent in 2003/04, from 111.1 to 120.7 injuries per hundred thousand employees.
The rate of reported major injury fell steadily from 1997/98 to 2000/01; however in the three years since then both the number and rate have increased, principally in public administration, retail and wholesale trade, hotels and catering, business activities and transport.
The most common kind of major injury to employees continues to be slipping and tripping, accounting for 37 per cent of major injuries in 2003/04.
Being injured while handling, lifting or carrying accounted for 14 per cent of major injuries in 2003/04, being struck by a moving or falling object 13 per cent and falling from a height 13 per cent.
The number of reported over-three-day injuries to employees increased by 0.7 per cent in 2003/04 to 129 143.
The rate of over-three-day injury to employees increased in 2003/04, from 506.5 to 508.4 injuries per hundred thousand employees.
The rate of over-three-day injury fell steadily from 1997/98 to 2002/03 but increased in 2003/04.
The most common kind of over-three-day injury to employees continues to be being injured while handling, lifting or carrying, accounting for 41 per cent of over-three-day injuries in 2003/04.
Slipping and tripping accounted for 24 per cent of over-three-day injuries and being struck by a moving or falling object accounted for 11 per cent.
The rate of reportable injury estimated from the Labour Force Survey was 1440 per 100 000 workers in 2002/03, down by 4.6 per cent on the previous year.
Rates of reportable injury are available annually from the LFS and the latest is from 2003/04.
Annual results are subject to sampling fluctuation and LFS rates are presented mostly as three-year averages to smooth such fluctuation.
The averaged rate was previously relatively stable between 1997/98 and 2001/02; however, the annual LFS rate has fallen each year since 1999/2000, by 3.2 per cent to 2002/03 and by a further 12.5 per cent in 2003/04 - while the global level of reporting of non-fatal injury was 42.9 per cent, an increase from 41.3 per cent in 2001/02.
When compared with the RIDDOR rate of reported major and over-three-day injury, the LFS allows the level of reporting of non-fatal injuries to be estimated.
This increased in 2002/03 after falling steadily since 1997/98.
The rate of reportable injury estimated from the Labour Force Survey was highest in Wales, the East Midlands, the North East, Yorkshire and the Humber and the South West.
The rates per 100,000 workers in 2002/03 were 1670 in Wales, 1640 in the East Midlands, North East, and Yorkshire and the Humber, and 1590 in the South West, compared with the Great Britain average of 1440.
Most differences are explained by the industrial and occupational composition of the regions.
Work-related ill health.
For work-related ill health, the key new data are results of the Self-reported Work-related Illness (SWI) Survey 2003/04.
The statistics also draw on surveillance data from specialist doctors in The Health and Occupation Reporting network (THOR), claims for disablement benefit under the Department for Work and Pensions' Industrial Injuries Scheme (IIS), and deaths from mesothelioma and other occupational diseases.
The main features of the ill health statistics are as follows: In 2003/04 an estimated 2.2million people suffered from ill health which they thought was work-related, similar to the level in 2001/02 (2.3 million).
A self-reported household survey carried out in 2003/04 (SWI03/04) estimated that 2,233,000 individuals in Great Britain suffered in that year from an illness which they believed was caused or made worse by their current or past work.
This prevalence estimate includes long standing as well as new cases.
The prevalence rate was 5200 per 100 000 ever employed, similar to the 5300 per 100 000 estimated by SWI01/02.
609,000 first became aware of the illness in the last 12 months, compared with 662,000 in 2001/02.
SWI03/04 estimated that there were 609,000 new cases of work-related illness.
This incidence estimate comprises people who first became aware of their illness in the last 12 months.
The incidence rate was 2000 people per 100,000 who worked in the last 12 months (2.0 per cent), which was lower than the 2200 per 100,000 (2.2 per cent) estimated by SWI01/02.
Around three-quarters of the cases of work-related illness were musculoskeletal disorders or stress.
The most common types of work-related illness were musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) (in particular those affecting the back and upper limbs) and stress, depression or anxiety.
In 2003/04 the estimated prevalence of MSDs was 1,108,000 and the incidence 204,000, while for stress, depression or anxiety the prevalence was 557,000 and the incidence 254,000.
But the total also includes diseases ranging from asthma and dermatitis to infections and deafness.
Other types of ill health with significant numbers of cases reported by doctors or compensated by the Government were lung diseases such as asthma and pneumoconioses; contact dermatitis and other skin diseases; diarrhoeal and other infections; and disorders related to vibration or noise.
Several thousand people die each year from diseases caused by past work exposures.
Each year an estimated 6000 people (uncertainty range 3000 to 12,000) die from cancer due to past exposures at work.
Around 3500 cancer deaths are due to exposure to asbestos.
For deaths other than cancer, in 2002 around 100 died from asbestosis and nearly 300 from other types of pneumoconiosis, mostly due to coal dust and silica (including nearly 1900 deaths in 2002 from mesothelioma, a cancer related to asbestos exposure).
The annual number of deaths in Great Britain from mesothelioma has increased from 153 in 1968 to 1862 in 2002.
The latest projections suggest that the annual number will peak at a level around 1950 to 2450 deaths some time between 2011 and 2015.
Deaths occurring now reflect past industrial conditions; deaths in males aged under 45 have been falling since the early 1990s.
Based on the latest self-reporting survey, work-related ill health prevalence rates were highest in the North East, Wales, and Yorkshire and the Humber.
The estimated rates per 100,000 people ever employed in 2003/04 were 7400 in the North East, 6200 in Wales and 6000 in Yorkshire and the Humber, compared with the Great Britain average of 5200.
Revitalising Health and Safety targets.
The statistics on health and safety at work inform the measurement of progress against the targets for reducing work-related injuries, ill health and working days lost set in the 'Revitalising Health and Safety' strategy.
The HSE's approach to progress measurement is detailed in a Statistical Note published in June 2001, which is on the HSE's website.
HSE statisticians' latest assessments are as follows: For the incidence rate of fatal and major injury, the latest data show little change in the rate of fatal injury (the rate of fatal injury to workers is at a similar level in 2003/04 as it was in the base year, 1999/2000).
The rate rose in 2000/01, fell in the following two years, and then rose in 2003/04.
Rates of reported major injury have fallen since 1999/2000 in construction, manufacturing and the extractive and utility supply industries.
In agriculture, the rate has fluctuated with no overall trend.
Since 2000/01, the rate of reported major injury has increased across the services sector as a whole.
Within major injuries, the pattern of the types of injury reported by employers has also changed over this period, with proportionally more injuries such as lacerations, sprains, strains, contusions and superficial injuries being reported than before.
The numbers of these types of injuries have increased each year since 2000/01 (along with evidence to suggest that reporting levels have increased).
The largest increases in reported major injuries tend to be in industries where the numbers of over-three-day injuries have also increased (or stayed level), and where comparison with the LFS suggests improved reporting of non-fatal injuries.
Improved reporting stems mainly from increases in over-three-day injuries but there is likely to be an element of improved reporting for major injuries in services as well which would then be reflected in the recent increases in major injuries.
However, more evidence is needed about improved reporting of major injuries in services.
All of which leads to an overall judgement of no clear evidence of change in the incidence rate of fatal and major injury since 1999/2000, the base year of Revitalising.
The latest self-reporting (SWI) survey shows a statistically significant fall in the incidence rate of work-related musculoskeletal disorders between 2001/02 and 2003/04, from 750 to 640 per 100,000 employed in the last 12 months, though there is a range of uncertainty around these figures.
The estimated number of new cases seen by specialist doctors (in the THOR scheme) fell in the year to 2003, having previously been fairly stable.
The 2003/04 SWI survey shows no change since 2001/02 in self-reported stress incidence: the estimated rate was 860 per 100,000 in 2003/04 and 890 in 2001/02.
The available data suggest that up to then, self-reported incidence had been increasing.
THOR specialist doctor data had also been rising up to 2001, and have declined a little since.
The level is still likely to be higher than in 1999/2000.
Estimated cases of asthma seen by specialist doctors in each of the last four years have been lower than in 1999 (and most of the 1990s), indicating a probable decrease in incidence.
Specialist doctor data for dermatitis in the last three years have been consistently lower than in the late 1990s, also seeming to represent a downward trend.
The number of deaths from mesothelioma has continued to rise, reflecting past asbestos exposures.
All of which leads to the overall assessment that there is no clear evidence of change in work-related ill health incidence since 1999/2000, the Revitalising base year.
For working days lost per 100,000 workers, the figures for 2003/04 show no statistically significant change since 2000-02, the closest available to the Revitalising base year.
The figure was 170,000 per 100 000 workers in 2003/04 compared with 180,000 in 2000-02.
Enforcement, dangerous occurrences and gas safety.
The key statistics are as follows: The latest figures show a rise in the number of enforcement notices issued.
In 2002/03, the most recent year for which data from all enforcing authorities are available, there were 19,104 enforcement notices issued, a 12 per cent increase on the previous year.
There was an 8 per cent decrease in the number of dangerous occurrences reported to HSE in 2003/04 from 9946 to 9120.
The number of fatal injuries relating to the supply and use of flammable gas fell in 2003/04, from 25 to 18.
Copies of 'Health and Safety Statistics Highlights 2003/04' are available free from the Statistics Co-ordination Unit of the HSE, or can be downloaded from the statistics section of the HSE's website.
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