August 28, 2006—The Health and Safety Commission (HSC) has published the annual fatal injury statistics showing the lowest fatal injury number on record.
In 2005/2006 212 people were fatally injured, a reduction from 223 in 2004/2005. The rate is also the lowest on record, at a rate of 0.71 fatalities per 100,000 workers.
The published figures also contain a comparison across Europe, which shows Great Britain as having the lowest fatal injury rate in Europe, a rate of 1.1 worker per 100,000.
Falls from height remain the most common cause of fatal injury, with 46 workers being killed following a fall compared to 53 workers killed in 2004/2005. The HSE has recently run a campaign warning of the dangers of working at height in a bid to further raise awareness of the dangers posed by working at height and try and reduce this figure still further.
Two industries, construction and agriculture, account for just under half of all fatal injuries, however, both industries saw sizeable reductions in the number and rate of fatalities. In construction there was a 14% drop in the number of fatal injuries resulting in the lowest rate on record and in agriculture there was a reduction of 21% to the lowest rate since 1999/2000.
For more information, see the HSE Web site.
