Health and Safety Update (December 2008)
Health & Safety Statistics 2007 / 08
The HSE has recently published the statistics on work-related
ill-health, injuries, dangerous occurrences, enforcement and gas
safety issues for 2007 / 08.
Annual figures are as follows:
- 2.1 million people were suffering from an illness they believed
was caused or made worse by their current or past work;
- 229 workers were killed at work;
- 299,000 reportable injuries occurred;
- 34 million days were lost overall (1.4 days per worker); 28
million due to work-related ill health and 6 million due to
workplace injury.
Other key statistics highlighted include:
Ill health
- 1.3 million of these cases were suffered by people working
during the year, of which 563,000 were new cases;
- 2056 people died of Mesothelioma (2006), and thousands more
from other occupational cancers and lung diseases;
Enforcement
- 1,028 offences were prosecuted by HSE;
- 354 offences were prosecuted by local authorities.
These figures show the costs to you the employer as a result of
accidents and ill health. Good health and safety management helps
to reduce the burden on your business. Your RBS Mentor Management
System is effectively designed to help you with this as are the
rest of our products - you should make full use of them in the
current economic climate - we are here to help your business
perform to the necessary standards and reduce the toll of personal
suffering and the associated costs which in the main are borne by
you the employer.