The “stubbornly consistent” level of fatalities and major injuries in the waste and recycling sector “paints a stark picture” of the task facing the industry in addressing the issue, the Health and Safety Executive has claimed today (November 12).
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) made the comments as it published provisional fatality and injury figures for 2009/10, which showed that the sector was still among the most dangerous professions with an injury and fatality rate four times higher than the all-industry average.
The provisional fatality figures for 2009/10 show that there were seven fatalities in total related to waste and recycling, including four employees and three members of the public. In September, the HSE had predicted that the number would be below the 12 to 16 fatalities usually recorded in the sector each year (see letsrecycle.com story).
Injuries
On the issue of injuries that kept employees away from work for three days or more, the HSE reported that there was “little discernible improvement” between 2008/09 and 2009/10 – during which period the number of incidents fells from 2,225 to 2,151, or roughly 1%.
Commenting on the figures, Geoff Cox, head of manufacturing at the HSE, said: “We are encouraged by fewer deaths and injuries in waste and recycling, but the injury rate, which is stubbornly consistent with that of the previous year, paints a stark picture of how much more needs to be done.”
Mr Cox said that the HSE will continue to work with the industry through the advocatory body the Waste Industry Safety and Health Forum to help “prevent people being killed or injured needlessly”.
Across all industries for 2009/10 there were a total of 152 workers fatally injured in Britain, which was a fall from 179 recorded in 2008/09. This represents the lowest level of deaths on record, equating to 0.5 deaths per 100,000 workers.
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