§ 98. Mr. LofthouseTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is his most up-to-date assessment of the progress being made in reducing the number of accidents in the United Kingdom coal mining industry.
§ Mr. NichollsThe British coal mining industry is the safest in the world. The total accident rate continues to decline each year. The latest published British Coal "all accident rate" of 32.25 per 100,000 manshifts is the lowest figure ever recorded. This is the clearest indication of the continuing progress in reducing accidents achieved by British Coal in co-operation with the work force, workers' representatives and Her Majesty's mines inspectorate.
There were two fatal and 25 major injuries at licensed mines in 1988–89. The annual figures have changed little in
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YTS: in-training by occupational classification and disabled status Great Britain at 31 March All trainees Disabled trainees Training occupation classification 1987 1988 1989 1990 1987 1988 1989 1990 Administration and clerical 60,027 69,327 69,498 67,772 1,086 1,490 1,553 1,391 Creative, educational and recreational services 6,763 8,120 8,646 8,893 173 213 210 149 Health, community and personal services 34,060 41,888 42,092 40,553 573 728 879 672 Selling and storage 38,076 42,553 39,557 34,642 552 714 801 559 Scientific occupations 1,699 2,029 1,931 1,661 17 14 25 21 Catering and food preparation and processing occupations 13,549 16,012 14,635 11,923 606 734 694 539 Agricultural and related occupations 15,772 17,973 16.402 14.066 628 791 762 518 Fishing occupations 272 391 321 278 3 2 6 0 Transport operating occupations 2,763 4,591 4,874 5,171 9 12 8 15 Construction and civil engineering occupations 42,491 58,271 60,745 58,071 910 1,169 1,224 997 Mining, oil, quarrying 175 410 314 150 0 0 0 0 Electrical and electronic engineering occupations 12,604 18,724 19,447 19,952 99 123 108 94 Mechanical engineering and metal processing occupations 25,242 34,532 33,815 33,686 245 308 313 276 Motor vehicle repair and maintenance occupations 22,035 28,268 29,262 30,177 187 263 308 304 Non-metal processing and printing occupations 5,356 7,518 8,518 9,387 273 358 452 446 Clothing and textiles manufacturing occupations 7,620 10,277 9,609 7,902 279 373 342 217
§ Mr. AtkinsHM Customs and Excise figures for the tonnage of freight exported by sea in powered road goods vehicles or unaccompanied trailers from the ports of Forth, Clyde, Aberdeen, Liverpool and Tyne to continental Europe (excluding the Republic of Ireland) in 1989 are given in the table.
recent years. The Health and Safety Executive's mines inspectorate has met the owners and operators and given advice on ways of improving safety in this sector.