HSE figures warning

Safety campaigners warned against complacency after a significant reduction in the numbers of people killed, injured or suffering work-related ill-health last year according to HSE figures.

Across England, Scotland and Wales, 29.3 million working days were lost to injury and ill health between April 2008 and March 2009, compared with 33.9 million in 2007-08.

Workplace fatal injuries fell from 233 in 2007-08 to a record low of 180 in 2008-09, and more than 7,000 fewer workplace injuries were classified as serious or incurring more than three days absence from work.

The Hazards Campaign warned against more “inaccurate and misleading” headlines. It argued that HSE figures exclude members of the public killed by work activities; work-related deaths reported to other regulators (for example, the workers killed in recent helicopter crashes); the estimated one thousand a year killed in work-related driving incidents, those who commit suicide due to the unbearable pressures of overwork, long hours, stress and bullying; and all those dying of occupational illnesses.

The HSE figures also reflect the recession and offer few pointers as to what might happen when the economy eventually recovers.