Rates of injury at work have reduced substantially in recent years. There have been falls in both self-reported injury and injuries reported by employers.
Accidents at work can happen to anybody at anytime. In certain environments, specific types of accidents can be more common than others.
For example, you’d be more likely to suffer burns or breathing problems from working with Dangerous Substances than if you worked in an office.
Injuries and Accidents at work will always occur from time to time but it is the duty of your employer to minimise the Risks at Work as much as possible as a large number of accidents can often be put down to employer negligence.
Injuries and Accidents at work – Kinds of Accidents
The “kind” is a broad description of how the accident happened. Particular kinds tend to be associated with different levels of injury severity, with limited year-to-year change in the proportions of each kind.
Injuries and Accidents at work – Period 2012/2013:
- Over half the fatal injuries to workers were of three kinds: falls from height; contact with moving machinery; and being struck by a vehicle (RIDDOR);
- Electricity, fire and drowning/asphyxiation accidents accounted for around one in twelve fatalities to workers but fewer than one in a hundred non-fatal injuries to employees (RIDDOR);
- Falls and slips & trips combined made up more than half of all reported major injuries and almost a third of over seven day injuries to employees (RIDDOR);
- Slip and trip injuries were the most commonly reported, accounting for three in every ten injury reports. Handling was the most frequent cause of over seven day injury (RIDDOR);
- An estimated three million working days were lost due to handling injuries and slips & trips (LFS).
People working in different types of job obviously face a range of different hazards.
For example, an office worker is much less at risk from burns than a chef – but there are a range of common accidents and injuries which occur across all occupational sectors – and trips/slips and falls invariably top the league.
In 2007/08, these accounted for almost four out of every 10 major workplace injuries. Other national statistics for the same year show that the most common ‘over-three-day injury’ was caused by handling, lifting or carrying.
A total of 34 million work days were lost because of workplace-related accident or illness. Of these, 6 million were due to injuries within the workplace while 28 million were ‘work-related’ ill health days.
Injuries and Accidents at work – Most Common Risks
Overall, slips/trips and falls or damage caused by manual handling/lifting remain the main culprits of injury in the workplace.
The good news is that the government has set targets under the ‘Revitalising Health and Safety’ initiative to reduce injuries and latest available figures show that the rate of both fatal and over-three-day accidents in the UK is substantially lower than in most other EU countries apart from Sweden and Ireland.
Workplace injuries the statistics:
For further reading and guidance on accidents and injuries at work please visit: http://blackwaterlaw.co.uk/accident-at-work-claims/
Health and Safety is a serious business and last year over 35 construction workers were killed and just under 2,000 suffered serious injuries such as musculoskeletal disorders, dermatitis or asbestosis as a direct result of their working procedures. The construction sector is graded as high risk but hazards are not restricted to those working in this sector. Last year five members of the public were also killed because construction activities had not been adequately controlled.
Further reading and guidance on accidents and injuries at work:
Workplace injury – all industries
Rates of injury at work have reduced substantially in recent years. There have been falls in both self-reported injury and injuries reported by employers.
http://www.hse.gov.uk/Statistics/causinj/index.htm
Accidents in the workplace
Your employer has a duty to protect you and tell you about health and safety issues that affect you. They also have a legal responsibility to report certain accidents and incidents, pay you statutory sick pay, or contractual sick pay if you are entitled to it and give you time off because of an accident at work should you need it.
http://www.nidirect.gov.uk/accidents-in-the-workplace
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