Deaths at work increase

Government cutbacks have been blamed for a sharp rise in workplace fatalities last year.

Figures from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) show that 124 workers died in the six months up to the end of September 2006, compared to 212 in the 12 months to March 2006. If the following six months yield the same figure, this will represent a 17% increase in deaths on the previous year – and another set of newly released statistics has revealed that the dangerous trend did continue, in the construction industry at least. There were 74 construction fatalities between 1 April 2006 and early March this year, 14% more than the 59 recorded for the entire year 2005/06.

The unions PCS and Prospect, both of which have members in the HSE, linked the rise in deaths to a reduction in the HSE’s resources. PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said the figures “should be a wake-up call to the government, who should be investing in safety rather than crude cost cutting”.

Alan Ritchie, general secretary of the construction union UCATT, agreed: “The lives of building workers cannot be reduced to a financial cost. The government must reverse these cuts and put extra resources into ensuring that this inherently dangerous industry is made safer.”

Elsewhere, deaths among rail workers have already reached last year’s figure of five deaths.