HC Deb 20 December 1988 vol 144 cc229-30W
Mr. Strang

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether he will list the accident rates by company size for 1978, 1979, 1985, 1986, and 1987.

Mr. Nicholls

The only information analysed by the Health and Safety Executive on the relationship between accident rates and company size concerns employees in manufacturing establishments in 1985. This was published in Health and Safety Statistics 1984–85. I am arranging for a copy to be placed in the Library.

Mr. Strang

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether he will state the proportion of accidents in the construction industry in 1978, 1979, 1980, 1986 and 1987 of employed and self-employed workers.

Mr. Nicholls

The relative percentages of employees and self-employed in the construction industry who were reported as receiving fatal or major injuries are set out in the table. For the self-employed working on their own, fatal injuries (and for 1985 and earlier years major injuries) are not reportable and are therefore excluded.

Fatal and major injuries in the construction industry (SIC 80, division 5) reported to all enforcement authorities, including local authorities
Percentage
Employees Self-employed
1981 97 3
1982 97 3
1983 97 3
1984 96 4
1985 95 5
1986–871 86 14
1987–881 85 15
1 Year commencing 1 April.

Notes:

  1. (a) The definition of major injuries was introduced in the Notification of Injuries and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1980 (NADOR). The definition applies for 1981 to 1985. Subsequent figures are as defined in the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1985 (RIDDOR). The definition of a major injury is broader under RIDDOR than under NADOR and thus figures for 1986–87 and 1987–88 are not comparable with those for earlier years.
  2. (b) Enforcing authorities responsible for enforcing the NADOR and RIDDOR Regulations are the Health and Safety Executive's factory and agricultural inspectorates and local authorities.
  3. (c) The relative percentages of injuries to employees and self-employed will be affected by their relative percentages in the workforce, also shown in the table, by differences in the range of activities in which they are engaged, and by differences in the propensity to report injuries.