A quick look at the Health and Safety at Work Statistics 2016

Posted on 9th Dec, 2016 | By Lorretta Tatham

It’s that time of the year again; the HSE’s Health and Safety at Work statistics have been released and reveal the state of safe working in the UK. With information on every industry, types of injury and cost of injury and ill health, the report certainly makes and interesting read. In today’s blog, we’ve giving you a run down of the stats and suggesting a few safety training courses for 2017.

Workplace injury and the worst offending industries

Workplace injury is always an interesting and topical subject – and this year’s stats show how huge the problem of workplace injury is. 2015/16’s injuries included 0.6 million non-fatal injuries to workers and 144 fatal injuries to workers.

While these numbers are high, this year’s stats do fit in with the downward trend. However, in recent years this has been showing signs of levelling off. Still, the number of fatal injuries in the UK remain a lot lower that other European countries. In Eurostat data from 2013, the UK performed consistently well when compared to the EU average and other large economies like Germany, France and Spain.

Workplace injuries were a result of:

• Falls from a height
• Stuck by moving vehicle
• Struck or hit by a moving object
• Manual handling, lifting or carrying
• Slips, trips and falls.

Falls from a height were the causation of the majority of injuries with over 30% of fatal and non-fatal injuries coming from this category. This category also had the highest proportion of fatal injuries – showing that work from a height still needs to be prioritised. You can discover our Work at Height Safety Training here.

Those industries that had had statistically significantly higher injury rates than for all industries included:

• Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing
• Construction
• Accommodation and Food Services,
• Transport and Storage
• Manufacturing and Wholesale and Retail Trade

Workplace activities to be aware of

One of the most concerning statistics related to manual handling injuries. In 2015-16, 0.5 million workers suffered from a work-related musculoskeletal disorder – new or longstanding. Another shocking statistic was the number of mesothelioma deaths, as a result of exposure to asbestos. In 2014, there were 2515 mesothelioma deaths, with a similar number of lung cancer deaths linked to exposure to asbestos. Asbestos wasn’t the only harmful material causing death. The report also highlighted that 13,000 deaths each year were linked to past exposure to chemicals and dusts at work.

At Browns Ladders, we cover the issues of manual handling and asbestos in our Manual Handling Safety Training and UKATA Asbestos Awareness Course.

The cost of poor health and safety at work

The stats also highlight how costly a lack of health and safety policies at work can be. Between 2014 and 2015, workplace injuries cost 4.8 billion in total, with some sums being enough to ruin businesses. In fact, the Government was the bearer of 3.3 billion of the costs and employers the bearer of 2.8 million costs. Furthermore, 30.4 million working days were lost due to work-related injuries and non-fatal workplace injuries during the same time period.

To create a safe working environment for your staff, don’t forget to book regular Ladder Safety Inspections.

How are you planning to improve health and safety at work in 2017? Let us know on Twitter @Brownssafetyservices