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Health and Safety Statistics 2007 to 2008

The 2007/8 statistics on work-related ill-health, injuries, dangerous occurrences, enforcement and gas safety are now available on the HSE's website.

Click here to download the HSE's full report

Key annual figures 2007/08

  • 2.1 million people were suffering from an illness they believed was caused or made worse by their current or past work.
  • 229 workers were killed at work, a rate of 0.8 per 100 000 workers.
  • 136 771 other injuries to employees were reported under RIDDOR, a rate of 517.9 per 100 000 employees.
  • 299 000 reportable injuries occurred, according to the Labour Force Survey, a rate of 1000 per 100 000 workers.
  • 34 million days were lost overall (1.4 days per worker), 28 million due to work-related ill health and 6 million due to workplace injury

Work-related injuries and ill health in agriculture - Summary

  • Compared to other main industry groups agriculture has the highest rate of fatal injuries (9.7 per 100 000 workers in 2007/08p), and one of the highest rates of major injuries (231.8 per 100 000 employees in 2007/08p).

  • The rate of reported major and over-3-day injury has fallen in recent years, although because of changes in industry recording it is currently unclear whether this trend has extended to 2007/08.
  • Relative to other industries, a higher proportion of reported injuries in agriculture were caused by animals, moving machinery, falling objects, falls from height and moving vehicles.
  • THOR-GP surveillance scheme data, 2006-2007, indicates a higher incidence rate of work-related illness in agriculture compared with all industries. However, the prevalence rate of self-reported work-related ill health in 2007/08, is of the same order in agriculture as all industries.
  • Self-reported and THOR surveillance scheme data indicates the rate of work-related musculoskeletal disorders was higher in agriculture than across all industries,  in the most recent data. Surveillance scheme data also suggest the rate of work-related asthma was higher in agriculture than other industries.

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