§ MR. BELL (Derby)To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will explain why the Return of Nonfatal Industrial Accidents in the Labour Gazette has been discontinued; and will he take steps to have the Return of such accidents published again as hitherto.
(Answered, by Mr. Gerald Balfour.) The publication of monthly statistics of nonfatal accidents has been discontinued, because it is considered that the figures are misleading, in view of the great variations in the standard of reportable accidents in different classes of industries, to which attention has been called by the Report of the Departmental Committee on the Notification of Industrial Accidents presented to Parliament last year. The annual totals will be published as heretofore in the Abstract of Labour Statistics and the Labour Gazette. If effect is given to the recommendations of the Committee, it may be possible to renew the monthly publications.