Workplace deaths higher in the West Country
Workplace Deaths
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has recently released figures which show that there were more people killed or seriously injured at work in the West Country in the period concerned than any other comparable area in the country. This report has alerted businesses and accident prevention bodies in the area to the need for more vigilance and for tougher sanctions on businesses who fail to look after the safety of their staff properly.
The average rate for the UK was 78.9 people were killed or seriously injured per 100,000 employees. The rate in the western counties was 81.4 which sounds small but is significant when multiplied up by the number of people in work in the area. It actually represents 12 people killed and 1,876 seriously injured.
Various reasons for the discrepancy
The regional TUC secretary Nigel Costley said that the reason the region’s figures have remained high (despite a 20% drop in fatalities) is because of the large numbers of the workforce who are employed in more dangerous jobs such as fishing and agriculture. The drop may be explained also by the fact that the construction industry – the biggest source of serious accidents and fatalities – has been in decline until the recent economic upswing, so the figures may be misleading on that score. He also pointed out that of course the figures do not include those who die subsequently of illnesses related to their employment.
Stress and mesothelioma (both big killers) are not counted if the employment has ceased and in the years 1981-2011 a total of 4,104 people have died from the asbestos-related mesothelioma in the south west. This fatal lung disease can take many decades to become apparent and health officials are still expecting ‘spikes’ to occur, even though asbestos has been banned in buildings since 1999. Even those exposed as children as much as fifty years ago can still present with the disease in later life.
Thorough training saves lives
Training makes things safer for everyone by various routes. Not only does everyone who has been trained properly work more effectively using safety techniques but they are also more able to spot infringements in health and safety legislation, pointing them out and getting them addressed before anyone is killed or injured. Safety training courses are available for almost every profession and the construction industry in particular has a huge range of very specific courses which cover everything from working at a height to working in confined spaces.
Managers’ training courses are very popular with employers because they mean that the person overseeing the processes is as aware as the hands-on worker how things should be done and this is particularly helpful when it comes to administrative matters such as the writing and maintenance of risk assessment logs and health and safety regulation updates. A trained staff is a much more effective staff cost-wise because although serious accidents are the worst from a personal point of view, minor ones causing odd days off are far worse for any business financially.