Workplace deaths 'at record low'
Numbers released by the Health and Safety Executive in Great Britain show that workplace deaths in the country continued to fall last year, and in fact, reached their lowest point since the records began in 1974. Number of deaths fell significantly in agriculture and construction. HSE chairman Judith Hackett warns of placing too much faith in the picture painted by the statistics though, pointing out that workplace-related ill health accounts for four times as many lost working days as injuries, and that many places do not report injuries accurately, sometimes recording as few as 30% of workplace injuries. TUC general secretary Brendan Barber adds that the numbers do not necessarily indicate that employers are making greater safety efforts. He says numbers may have gone down so much this year, as they typically do during a recession, because fewer new and inexperienced hires are being made.
See "Workplace deaths 'at record low'", BBC News Online, June 23, 2009