High Rates Of Injury Remain

18 November 2010

Latest statistics from the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) have shown that the combined fatal and major injury rate in waste and recycling is more than four times the average across all industries. In the waste and recycling industry 416 employees per 100,000 suffer a major injury or are killed at work compared with the all industry average rate of 102 per 100,000.

A total of 530 major injuries to employees in waste and recycling were reported in 2009/10 − a fall of 10 percent on the previous year when 590 major injuries were reported. Major injuries, such as amputations and broken limbs account for around one in four injuries in the sector.

Provisional fatality figures for 2009/10 also show that four employees were killed as a result of working in waste and recycling between April 2009 and March 2010 − three fewer than in 2008/09. Three members of the public also died in relation to work activities in the waste and recycling sector during 2009/10.

There was little discernable improvement in injuries that kept people away from work for three days or more, with 2,151 reported in 2009/10 compared with 2,225 in 2008/09 − a fall of only one percent.

Geoff Cox, HSE's head of manufacturing, including waste and recycling said: "We are encouraged that there have been fewer deaths and injuries in waste and recycling, but the injury rate, which is stubbornly consistent with that of the previous year, paints a stark picture of how much more needs to be done. We also cannot view fewer deaths this year being any indication of a downward trend. The industry cannot afford to be complacent.

"HSE will continue to work with industry through the Waste Industry Safety and Health (WISH) forum to look at ways to prevent people being killed or injured needlessly."

Across all industries in 2009/10, 152 workers were fatally injured in Britain - down from 179 the previous year. This is the lowest level on record, with 0.5 deaths per 100,000 workers.