HSE Publishes New Figures on Workplace Ill Health & Injury

Provisional figures published yesterday by the HSE on workplace ill health and injury in Britain showed a slight fall in a number of key areas.

Between April 2011 and March 2012, 22,433 major injuries to employees were reported, a rate of 89.90 injuries per 100,000 workers compared with 99.90 in 2010/11. 1.1 million were reported as suffering from a work-related illness, down from 1.2 million in 2010/11.

In the same period, 173 workers were fatally injured, down from 175 in the previous year – but up from 147 in 2009/10.

Chair of HSE, Judith Hackitt said: “Britain has earned the reputation of being one of the safest places in Europe to work, but there is still plenty of room for improvement.”

Testament to this, some statistics bucked the downward trend. The toll of injury and ill-health resulted in 27 million working days being lost –up on 2010/11 (26.4 million). Fatal injuries to members of the public also showed an increase in numbers to 417 in 2011/12 from 349 in the previous year.