HC Deb 07 March 2002 vol 381 cc563-4W
Mr. Don Foster

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will list for each year since 1997 the incidence rate of(a) fatal and (b) major injury accidents at work. [40427]

Dr. Whitehead

The incidence rate of fatal and of major injuries, reported to HSE and local authorities, 1997–98 to 2000–011 is shown in the table:

1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01
(a) Fatal injury rate
Employees 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.9
Self-employed people 1.8 1.9 1.7 2.4
Workers 1.0 0.9 0.8 1.0
(b) Major injury rate
Employees 127.6 121.7 116.6 107.3
Self-employed people 23.3 20.3 19.7 19.0
Workers 113.8 108.8 104.9 96.9
1 The figures relate to the planning year 1 April to 31 March and those for 2000–01 are provisional.

Notes:

1. The incidence rates per 100,000 employees, self-employed and workers have been provided. "Workers" are employees and self-employed combined.

2. Injuries reported under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) 1995.

3. Non-fatal injuries are under reported. The Labour Force Survey suggest that, in 1999–2000, employers report about 44 per cent. of injuries that they should report and self-employed people report less than 5 per cent.

Mr. Don Foster

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will list for each year since 1997 the incidence rate of cases of work-related ill health. [40425]

Description of contract Date
Assessment Centre Recruitment for Traffic Examiners September 2001 Vehicle Inspectorate
Training course 2000–02 Maritime and Coastguard Agency
Provision and Maintenance of IT Infrastructure September 1997–August 2004 Driving Standards Agency
Supply of Finance Director on an agency basis March 1998–November 2000 Fire Service College
Direct Marketing Services August 1998–July 1999 Fire Service College
Recruitment Service for DTLR November 2001 DTLR(C)
National Road Traffic Census for 2002–04 January 2002 DTLR(C)
Recruitment Service for DETR(C) October 1998 (contract now completed) DTLR(C)
General Recruitment Services February 1997 (contract now completed) DTLR(C)

Dr. Whitehead

No single source of information is available on the nature and full extent of work-related ill health in Great Britain. The most inclusive and broadly based estimates come from self-reporting surveys of the national population where individuals are asked to report any work related ill health they have suffered in the last 12 months. The latest available estimate of the incidence of new cases of work-related ill health from such a survey is for 1995; some 400,000 cases per year, or an incidence rate of 1,400 per 100,000 workers. An updated estimate, for 2001–02, will be published later this year.

More recent figures for particular types of work-related ill health are available from alternative are published in Health and Safety Statistics 2000–01, a copy of which is in the Library (and on the internet at http://www.house.gov.uldstati stics/2001/hsspt2.pdf).

Mr. Don Foster

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many working days were lost per 100,000 workers from(a) work-related injury and (b) ill health in each year since 1997. [40426]

Dr. Whitehead

The overall number of working days lost, as a result of work-related injury, is obtained every three years through a national survey. The latest figure, covering the financial year 2000–01, is estimated to be 27,900 working days lost per 100,000 workers, while in 1997–98 the figure was 25,800.

For work-related ill health, the latest available figure is based on a survey of self-reported work-related illness in 1995. The survey estimated that 71,000 working days were lost per 100,000 workers in Great Britain. A more up-to-date estimate, covering 2001–02, will be available later this year.