Health and Safety Statistics 2015/16
The HSE have released the latest statistics for 2015/16. The encouraging aspect is that they are getting better year by year. However, they are still too high! So this week I thought that I would give you some figures to consider.
This week’s 2 recent HSE case look at:
- Gareth Scott Redford has today, 28th April 2017, been sentenced to serve 16 months in prison for carrying out unsafe gas work
- The Teacher had fallen from the ladder and was unconscious on the drama studio floor having suffered multiple fractures to the skull, wrist and elbow as a result of the impact.
As ever, if you have a subject that you would like us to cover one week, please contact us by phone 01458 253682, email or via our Facebook page or by Twitter.
Health and Safety Statistics 2015/16
The latest figures from the HSE show:
Key figures for Great Britain (2015/16)
- 1.2 million working people suffering from a work-related illness Up from 1.2M in 2012/13
- 2515 mesothelioma deaths due to past asbestos exposures (2014) Down from 2,535 in 2012/13
- 144 workers killed at work Up from 133 in 2012/13
- 72,702 other injuries to employees reported under RIDDOR Down from 78.000 in 2012/13
- 621 000 injuries at work from the Labour Force Survey Down from 629,000 in 2012/13
- 30.4 million working days lost due to work-related illness and workplace injury Up from 28.2M in 2012/13
- £14.1 billion estimated cost of injuries and ill health from current working conditions (2012/13) Down from £14.2 billion in 2012/13
Ill Health
1.3 million people who worked during the last year were suffering from an illness (long-standing as well as new cases) they believed was caused or made worse by their current or past work. 0.5 million of these were new conditions which started during the year.
A further 0.8 million former workers (who last worked over 12 months ago) were suffering from an illness which was caused or made worse by their past work.
2515 people died from mesothelioma in 2014 and thousands more from other occupational cancers and diseases such as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease COPD.
More than half of these cancer deaths were caused by past exposures to asbestos (either mesothelioma or asbestos-related lung cancer). The next four biggest categories of occupational cancer were lung cancer due to silica, diesel engine exhaust, and mineral oils, and breast cancer due to shift work
- Work related Stress highest rates in human health and social care, education and public administration industries
- 11.3 million working days lost through work related stress
- 8.3 million working days lost through Musculoskeletal disorders
- Approximately 40% of disorders affect the back, and 40% affect the upper limbs
- 8000 deaths and 13 500 new cases of Occupational Cancer estimated per year
- Three times more men than women die from occupational cancer
- Most new cases are lung cancer, breast cancer or skin cancer
- 177 occupational asthma cases seen by consultants in 2014
| The numbers for 2013/14 | The numbers for 2015/16 | |
|---|---|---|
| Deaths | 144 | 133 |
| Serious Injury | 20,000 | 21,000 |
| Moderate Injury | 78,000 | 80,000 |
| 7 days off work | 148,000 | 175,000 |
| 3 days off work | 203,000 | 231,000 |
| Self reported | 629,000 | 646,000 |
- Most frequent causes of injury are manual handling, slips and trips and falls from height
- Higher rates for men than for women
- Highest rates in sewerage and waste supply, agriculture, construction and transport
Injury benefit claims
- About 150 new claims are awarded Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit every year for Noise Induced Hearing Loss
- Around 1000 new claims for Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit each year for Hand Arm Vibration disorders
What does all this cost?
It is estimated that it cost a total £14.2 billion per year resulting from current or recent working conditions (2014/15 estimate in 2015 prices). It must be noted that costs have fallen with signs of levelling off in recent years although these figures exclude costs of cancer – work is underway to estimate these.
And of course the largest single cost is non-financial value given to pain, grief and suffering!
If you would like any further help or support, please please contact us by phone 01458 253682, email or via our Facebook page or by Twitter.
Taunton & Somerset CPD Group at The Lawns Taunton
As we announced a fortnight ago, we have agreed to take over the running of the regular Free to attend CPD Seminars at the Lawns Club in Taunton.
These were run for a number of years by Marlene Burnell of Pick Everard but they have now withdrawn from Taunton and the seminars were ended.
Well Martin Kent our Customer Relations Manager has taken on the challenge. Initially we aim to run monthly meetings hopefully then becoming fortnightly or even weekly as before, So Martin is looking for any speakers that may be interested in giving a 40 minute talk on a Wednesday Lunchtime. Please contact him.
The first seminar was Ian Brookes from the Britmet Group, who spoke about Lightweight Roofing Systems
The second of these new seminars is on Wednesday 24th May at 12-30pm at The Lawns Taunton.
We have a Speaker from the Thorn Lighting, and he will be giving a presentation about the recent changes to LG7 which we hope will be of high value to your business.
If you haven’t already booked your place, or if you are not on the CPD Seminar mailing list but would like to be please drop Martin an email and he will deal with your request.
Training Courses
We are pleased to announce that we are in the process of being appointed as a British Safety Council approved Training Centre.
This will allow us to run Ofqual accredited qualifications. These Qualifications sit on the Regulated Qualifications Framework and include such courses as:
- the CSCS Green Card which was developed in partnership with the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) for people wishing to apply for a CSCS card.
- Level 2 & 3 Supervising Staff Safely mixed with Risk Assessment which is comparable to IOSH Managing Safely
There are more courses to follow in May and June – See below.
We are also looking to run some short Health and Safety awareness sessions to emphasise the need for improving your H&S procedures.
Also remember we are still available for running “In House” courses and are looking to add new training courses to our list.
If you have any questions about these courses or any other training or would like us to run a particular course for you, call Jon Wilkins of the Wilkins Safety Group on 01458 253682 or email him.