HC Deb 07 December 1988 vol 143 cc232-3W
Mr. Illsley

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the rate of fatal and major injury accidents of(a) British Coal employees and (b) employees contracted to British Coal expressed as a ratio of accidents to total numbers employed in each category.

Mr. Nicholls

The information is not available in the form requested.

Mr. Meacher

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what has been the rate of (i) deaths and (ii) serious accidents in the mining industry per 100,000 workers in each year since 1970.

Mr. Nicholls

The information requested is listed in the table:

Year Number employed (1,000's) Fatal rate per 100,000 employed Serious injury rate per 100,000 employed
1970 304.4 29.9 210.8
1971 297.7 24.2 215.8
1972 289.7 22.1 179.6
1973 270.1 29.6 204.8
1974 256.7 18.7 194.1
1975 259.2 24.7 226.2
1976 254.5 19.7 210.6
1977 252.6 15.9 198.8
1978 248.1 25.4 199.2
1979 243.5 18.9 194.6
1980 242.6 17.3 211.6
19811 232.4 15.1 351.3
1982 220.5 17.3 393.2
1983 206.3 14.6 400.0
1984–853 4 175.4 12.6 216.0
1985–863 5 154.6 18.2 464.3
1986–872 3 5 125.4 12.0 761.6
1987–883 5 104.4 8.6 702.9
Source: Health and Safety Executive and British Coal.

1 NADOR Regulations 1980—introduced 1 January 1981.

2 RIDDOR Regulations 1985—introduced 1 April 1986.

3 Average number employed during the year.

4 Covers 15-month period January 1984-March 1985—not comparable with earlier calendar year data.

5 Excludes licensed mines.