§ Mr. Wickendenasked the Secretary of State for Employment, in respect of each of the last five years, how many deaths, serious injuries and non-serious injuries have occurred in the course of employment in the coal mining and nuclear power industries, respectively; and, in respect of the same period and the same 696W industries, how many deaths have occurred from industry-related diseases such as silicosis.
§ Mr. MayhewThe information requested is given in the following tables.
There are no statistics of deaths from industrial diseases in the nuclear power industries, but I am assured that there have been no deaths which can be attributed with certainty to the effects of radiation at work.
Deaths in coal mining from pneumoconiosis reflect conditions many years ago.
REPORTED ACCIDENTS 1975–79* Fatal Serious Other Coal mining 1975 64 586 53,421 1976 50 535 50,203 1977 40 501 48,774 1978 63 494 46,279 1979 47 473 41,444
Fatal Other‡ Nuclear power industry† 1975 1 509 1976 1 623 1977 1 599 1978 1 652 1979 — 651 * Accidents resulting in more than three days' absence from work. † Accidents to operators' employees at sites operated by the Central Electricity Board, British Nuclear Fuels Ltd. and establishments of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy concerned with nuclear research and development. ‡ Separate figures are not available for serious injuries.
DEATHS FROM INDUSTRIAL DISEASES ATTRACTING AWARDS OF DEATH BENEFIT 1975–78 Pneumoconiosis (Industrial Injuries and other schemes) Other diseases (Industrial Injuries scheme only) 1975 640 1 1976 597 3 1977 535 3 1978* 498 2 * Incomplete figures including cases where death benefit had been approved by mid-1979.