HC Deb 25 July 1977 vol 936 cc80-2W
Mr. Benn,

pursuant to his reply to the supplementary question by the hon. Member for Leicester, South (Mr. Jim Marshall), [Official Report, 17th January 1977; Vol. 924, c. 5], gave the following information:

FATAL ACCIDENTS TO EMPLOYEES IN THE FUEL INDUSTRIES—1957–1976
Deep-mined Coal Gas Electricity (5) (6) (including nuclear power stations)
Year Number of deaths Rate per 1,000 employees (1) Number of deaths Rate per 1,000 employees (3) Number of deaths Rate per 1,000 employees (7)
1957 … … 396 .54 8 .06
1958 … … 327 .45 15 .12
1959 … … 348 .51 15 .12
1960 … … 317 .51 19 .15
1961 … … 255 .63 23 .18
1962 … … 257 .45 24 .18
1963 … … 254 .47 12 .09
1964 … … 198 .38 24 .17
1965 … … 216 .45 26 .18
1966 … … 160 .36 14(4) .19 21 .14
1967 … … 151 .36 7(4) .10 18 .12
1968 … … 115 .31 9 .14 15 .10
1969 … … 100 .31 8 .13 14 .10
1970 … … 91 .30 7 .13 14 .11
1971 … … 72 .24 7 .14 13 .11
1972 … … 64 .22 6 .13 11 .10
1973 … … 80 .30 0 0 12 .12
1974 … … 48 .19 2 .05 11 .11
1975 … … 64 .25 3 .07 8 .08
1976 … … 49(2) .19(2) 4 .10 9 .09

Offshore Oil and Gas (8) Oil Refining Nuclear (6) (AEA and BNFL)
Year Number of deaths Approximate rate per 1,000 employees Number of deaths Estimated rate per 1,000 employees (11) Number of deaths Rate per 1,000 employees
1957 … … 7 —(12) 2 .073(13)
1958 … … 5 .(12) 2
1959 … … 6 .2 0
1960 … … 6 .2 1
1961 … … 1 .05 0 .021(13)
1962 … … 1 .05 1
1963 … … 0 0 1
1964 … … 0 0 0
1965 … … 14(9) —(10) 2 .1 0
1966 … … 1 —(10) 3 .15 0 .014(13)
1967 … … 1 1 0 0 0
1968 … … 3 2.5 1 .85 1
1969 … … 2 1.5 1 .05 0
1970 … … 1 1 1 .05 0
1971 … … 4 3 0 0 0 .014(13)
1972 … … 3 1.5 3 .15 0
1973 … … 2 1 1 .05 0
1974 … … 9 2 1 .05 0
1975 … … 9 1.5 3 .15 1
1976 … … 16 1.5 1(2) .05 (2) 0
Notes:
(1) Total employees at coal mines.
(2) Provisonal figure.
(3) Manual grades only.
(4) Relate to eleven regions only (of twelve). Figures prior to 1966 are not sufficiently comparable.
(5) England and Wales only.
(6) None of the fatal accidents recorded are due to nuclear causes.
(7) Industrial workers only.
(8) Relate to installations only (employment numbers estimated).
(9) 13 deaths relate to the loss of ' Sea Gem '.
(10) The industry employed fewer than 1,000 workers in these years.
(11) Estimate based on employment in mineral oil refining as recorded in the Annual Abstract of Statistics and in the Department of Employment Gazette, March 1975.
(12) Employment figures not available.
(13) Average annual rate.
Sources:
HSE, BGC, Electricity Council, Department of Energy, Department of Employment, AEA, BNFL