August 16, 2004—The UK’s Health & Safety Commission (HSC) recently published the latest detailed statistics on fatal injuries in Health & Safety Executive (HSE) and local authority (LA) enforced sectors in the UK for 2003-04: “ Statistics of Fatal Injuries 2003/2004” (.pdf file).
The figures show that the number of fatally injured workers increased by 4% to 235 in 2003-04 from 227 in 2002-03. The rate of fatal injury also increased by 3% in 2003-04 to 0.81 per hundred thousand workers; the corresponding figure for 2002-03 is 0.79. There was a general downward trend in the rate in the 1990s, however it has risen twice since then, in 2000-01 and in 2003-04.
In 2000, the most recent year for which comparable data are available, the rate of fatal injury to workers in Great Britain was among the lowest of European Union member states.
In 2003-04, 114 (49%) of worker fatalities occurred in the two industries of construction (70) and agriculture, forestry, and fishing (44). Nine percent of all fatal injuries to workers in 2003/04 occurred in one single incident when 21 people drowned while harvesting cockles at Morecambe Bay in February.
Falling from a height continues to be the most common kind of accident, accounting for 29% of fatal injuries to workers in 2003-04. The number of fatal injuries of this kind increased in 2003-04 from 50 to 67. Being struck by a moving vehicle and being struck by a moving or falling object are the next most common kinds of fatal injury.
In construction in 2003-04, there were 70 fatal injuries to workers—the same number as in 2002-03. The rate of fatal injury to workers fell from 3.8 to 3.5 per hundred thousand workers, reflecting an increase in the number of workers. This is the lowest level on record.
In manufacturing, the number of fatal injuries to workers fell for the third consecutive year, from 43 in 2002-03 to 31 in 2003-04. The rate of fatal injury to workers also fell in 2003-04 from 1.2 to 0.9 per hundred thousand workers and is the lowest level seen in the period 1992-93 to 2003-04.
In service industries in 2003/04, there were 80 fatal injuries to workers, an increase from 75 in 2002-03. The rate of fatal injury to workers rose from 0.33 per hundred thousand workers to 0.35 in 2003-04. This is the second year in which both the number and rate of fatal injury have increased. The services sector comprises a wide range of activities.
