The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is urging employers in the North West of England to focus on the wellbeing of their employees as the organisation celebrates its 40th birthday.
During 2013/14 there were 15 fatalities at North West based businesses, the HSE reported, with 9,432 injuries compared to 14 deaths and 9,401 workers injured in the previous year. The report also highlighted 120,000 workers suffered from workplace illness over the last 12 months in the region.
Across the country as a whole, there were 133 people killed at work in 2013/14 and 79,500 injuries while workplace illness numbered 1.1 million.
Figures have been steadily decreasing over the years since the HSE was established in 1975 and the introduction of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 has been cited as helping to make the UK one of the safest countries in which to work.
In 1975, 651 employees lost their lives at work.
The organisation’s report showed Cumbria and Greater Manchester both recorded five deaths at work each in 2013/14, while in several areas, including Warrington and Chester East, there was no loss of life at work.
Both the death and accident figures were primarily taken from the construction, manufacturing, waste and recycling, and agricultural industries, and the majority of accidents whether fatal or non-fatal occurred from falls at height, unguarded machinery and poorly-managed workplace transport.
Health and Safety incidents in the North West during 2014 include a recycling firm fined £180,000 over a forklift driver’s death, a fuel company ordered to pay £25,000 when two of its workers received horrific burns following a tanker explosion, and two landlords in Bolton prosecuted for poisoning a baby with carbon monoxide.
The HSE’s head of operations for the North West, Steven Smith, said: “The figures offer encouragement that we are continuing to head in the right direction, but they also show that we can still go further and challenge the industries where there is room to do more.
“Workplace conditions have improved dramatically in the past four decades, but as employers plan and prepare for the new financial year they need to ensure that health, safety and welfare is a clear focus.”
Judith Hackitt, HSE Chair, added: “In the forty years since HSE was formed, we’ve worked with businesses, workers and government to make Britain a healthier and safer place to work.
“Thousands of serious injuries have been prevented and work-related deaths have reduced by 85 per cent. HSE has helped Britain become one of the safest places to work in the world.
“For the last eight years we have consistently recorded one of the lowest rates of fatal injuries to workers among the leading industrial nations in Europe.”
Ms Hackitt did, however, admit the HSE, while pleased with the progress made, is “striving to bring down these statistics even further.”
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