Provisional statistics for the year April 2012 to March 2013, published by the Health and Safety Executive, show an 11 per cent drop in major injuries compared with 2011/2012
The report shows that in Britain between April 2012 and March 2013:
• 19,707 major injuries (such as amputations, fractures and burns) to employees were reported (a rate of 78.5 injuries per 100,000 employees). This compares with 22,094 in 2011/2012 (a rate of 88.5 per 100,000 employees). The most common kinds of accident involved slips or trips (43 per cent) and falls from a height (13 per cent);
• there were 58,515 over-7-day injuries reported, with a corresponding rate of 233.1 per 100,000 employees. Of these injuries, the most common kinds of accident were caused by handling, lifting or carrying (27 per cent) and slips or trips (26 per cent); and
• 148 workers were fatally injured – down from 171 the previous year. The average for the past five years was 181 worker deaths per year.
There has been little change in the industries in which workers are most likely to be injured by their jobs, with construction (156.0 major injuries per 100,000 employees), agriculture (239.4 major injuries per 100,000 employees) and waste and recycling (369.8 major injuries per 100,000 employees) among the higher-risk sectors.