HC Deb 16 February 1994 vol 237 cc825-6W
Mr. Hinchliffe

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many industrial accidents, injuries and illness were recorded as requiring admission to hospital in each year since 1979.

Mr. Michael Forsyth

The information requested is not collected annually but a special study of accidents collected in the General Household Survey during 1986–89, published by the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys "Home and Leisure Accident Research, 1991 data" indicates that each year, in Great Britain, the accident

Miss Widdecombe

The number of people on youth training and training for work including predecessor programmes in 1991, 1992 and 1993 is given in the following table:

and emergency departments in hospitals treat around 1.6 million people who are injured during working activities, including driving to work. There is no information on the number of industrial illnesses requiring admission to hospital.

Mr. Hinchliffe

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many working days were lost due to accidents, injuries and illness, which were work related, for each year since 1979.

Mr. Michael Forsyth

Current occupational injury reporting legislation does not require information on the actual length of absence from work to be reported. However, the Health and Safety Executive sponsored a supplement of questions on workplace injury and ill health to the 1990 Labour Force Survey. It is estimated that in Great Britain, workers were incapacitated for work for 23.2 million days in the year to spring 1990 due to workplace injury. Of these, 22.8 million were lost due to injuries reported under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrances Regulations. For work-related ill health, an estimated 750,000 workers were incapacitated for a total of 13 million days.

Mr. Hinchliffe

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will estimate the annual cost, in lost production, benefit payments and lost revenue arising from industrial injuries, accidents and illness; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Michael Forsyth

Estimates of annual costs in benefit payments and lost revenue arising from industrial injuries, accidents and illness are not available.

Forward to