LTB 588/17 – HSE – Fatal Accidents At Work in GB Headline Statistics 2016/17

No. 588/2017

2 November 2017

Our Ref: EX5/17

HSE – Fatal Accidents At Work in GB Headline Statistics 2016/17

To: All Branches

Dear Colleagues,

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has published the latest, annual injury and ill health statistics which show that 1.3 million workers were suffering from work related ill-health and there were 609,000 workplace injuries in 2016/17.

137 Workers were killed at work in 2016/17 plus 92 members of the public were killed due to work related activities.

Workplace injury and new cases of ill health cost Great Britain £14.9bn a year with 31.2 million working days lost.

The annual statistics, compiled by the HSE from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) and other sources, cover work-related ill health, workplace injuries, working days lost, costs to GB and enforcement action taken.

Top line statistics show that in 2016/17 there were;

  • 137 fatal injuries in Britain’s workplaces
  • 70,116 other injuries reported by employers
  • 12,000 lung disease deaths estimated to be linked to past work exposures
  • 554 cases prosecuted with fines from convictions totalling £69.9 million

Separately the HSE (Northern Ireland) reported that work related deaths for 2016/17 were 12 compared to 23 for the previous year . However the number of major injuries increased by 10%.

The HSE Report confirms that there were fewer prosecutions taken by the HSE in 2016/17 but the statistics show a substantial increase in fines to £69.9 million, which is up from the 2015/16 total of £38.8 million. New sentencing guidelines in England and Wales were introduced in 2016. Twenty large fines accounted for £30.7 million of the new 2016/17 total figure.

Fines are not collected by the HSE but are levied by the courts in criminal prosecution cases progressed by the HSE and fines are paid to HM Treasury.

The HSE annual fatalities statistics continue to show a plateauing in the numbers and there are still very significant problems in certain sectors, in particular agriculture and construction despite some improvements on recent years. In certain sectors, such as waste however, the rate is increasing. There are also major regional differences.

The HSE also publish annual statistics in the spring which additionally include deaths from occupational disease, injuries and illnesses rather than just the immediate fatalities in these statistics

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. It helps Great Britain work well by applying a broad range of regulatory interventions and scientific expertise, to prevent work-related death, injury and ill health. It does so through research, information and advice, promoting training, new or revised regulations and codes of practice, and working with local authority partners by inspection, investigation, enforcement notices and prosecutions.

Yours sincerely

Dave Joyce

National Health, Safety & Environment Officer

17LTB588 HSE – Fatal Accidents At Work in GB Headline Statistics 2016-17

Health and Safety Summary Statistics GB 2016-17