§ Mr. O'GRADYasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department the number of accidents occurring on board ships and craft in harbours, docks, rivers, and canals, and at quays, wharves, and jetties in the United Kingdom and Ireland during the last three years, and the number of fatal accidents and of deaths due to accidents and of non-fatal accidents arising out of ships and craft loading and discharging; whether any, and, if so, what steps are taken to ensure the registering of all accidents in places of the occupations aforesaid; and whether all accidents which take place on properties covered by dock regulations will be classified in the Government annual Reports?
§ Mr. McKENNAThe number of accidents reported to the Factory Department under the provisions of the Factory Act as occurring in connection with the loading, 2343W unloading, and coaling of vessels during each of the last three years is as follows:—
1910. 1911. 1912. Fatal … 136 152 183 Non-fatal … 7,501 8,756 9,481 Total … 7,637 8,908 9,664 Each death due to an accident is counted as a fatal accident. The requirements of the Factory Act as to the reporting and registering of such accidents are enforced in the same way as other requirements of the Act; lists are kept of all employers engaged in carrying on the processes in question, and frequent visits are paid to docks, wharves, and quays, and to ships loading and unloading. The increase shown in the last three years is probably due partly to activity in trade and partly to better reporting. The accidents are classified from time to time in the annual reports of the chief inspector of factories 2344W (see Table 15, page 301, of the Annual Report for 1911). An elaborate analysis of the accidents in the East London district for the last five years appears on pages 12 and 13 of the Annual Report for 1912.