Fatalities in Waste And Recycling Sector Nearly Doubled, says HSE Report

By Paul Ploumis

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) has released its annual report detailing industry wise fatality details. The provisional report states that a total of 229 people were fatally injured in the UK during the one-year period from April 2016 to March 2017. This includes fatal injuries to workers and to members of public. While 137 workers were killed at work during the year, 92 members of public were also killed. The fatality in Waste and Recycling Sector nearly doubled when compared with the annual average for the past five years.

Out of the 137 workers killed, Construction Industry and Agriculture Industry accounted for 30 and 27 respectively. 19 workers were killed in Manufacturing Industry, followed by Transport & Storage and Waste & Recycling reporting 14 fatalities each. Maximum number of fatalities resulted from being struck by moving vehicle, which resulted in 31 deaths. The other main kinds of fatal accidents include Falls from height and Struck by moving object which led to 25 and 20 fatalities respectively. Being Trapped by something collapsing or overturning accounted for 10 deaths. Fatalities also resulted due to contact with moving machinery and electricity.

The number of fatal injuries in Waste & Recycling Sector totaled 14 during the year. This is significantly higher when compared with the annual average of 8 during the past five years. The number of deaths reported by the sector has more than doubled from 6 during the previous year. The surge in fatality number is mainly on account of a single incident at the Hawkeswood Metal Recycling’s yard in Birmingham which led to death of 5 workers on account of collapse of partition wall.

According to the report, male workers suffered more to fatal injuries. 97% of worker fatalities were to male workers. In terms of age, 98 out of the total fatalities were to workers belonging to the age group 16-59. Nearly 25% of fatal injuries were to workers aged 60 and above. This number is quite high, considering the fact that such workers account for only around 10% of the total workforce. The report also finds that the rate of fatality tends to increase with age. Also, region-wise, England reported lower injury rate than Scotland or Wales. Across the EU region, UK has one of the lowest fatality rates, HSE Report said.

92 members of public were killed during the year, in connection with work-related incidents. Out of these, 43 occurred on railways, while 14 occurred in the health and social work sector.

The provisional figures outlined in the report include fatal injuries that were reported to enforcing authorities between April last year and March this year. The final confirmation of the above figures will be done only in July 2018, after taking into account any necessary adjustments.