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Workers'
Memorial Day

International Workers Memorial Day 28 April 2008

'Good Occupational Health for All Workers'

Corporate Killing: Facts and Figures
A Hazards Campaign briefing document

Page 1 Introduction
Page 2 Real UK estimates of death at work
Page 3 Deaths due to work related illness
Page 4 Made ill by work
Page 5 Deaths in your region - official figures
Page 6 Work-Related Deaths Worldwide

Page 2 Real UK estimates of death at work

In the UK the Hazards Campaign estimates that every year:

1,600 to 1,700 people die in incidents at work (Hazards, Steve Tombs, Centre for Corporate Accountability)
up to 50,000 people die due to work-related illnesses: (Hazards)

The HSE headline figure is that 241 were killed by work in 2006/07 but this only refers to workers (employees, 185, and the self employed, 56 ) killed in incidents reported to HSE. It does not include members of the public (369), those killed in work-related road traffic incidents (over 1,000) or in the seas around the coast (about 30). Neither does it include those killed by illnesses caused by work and so is a gross underestimation.

Figures for the current year 2006/07 are much worse than for 2005/06. Construction fatalities were up from 60 in 05/06 to 77, a rise of around 30%. UCATT, PCS and Prospect trade unions link the rise in death to cuts in resources available to the HSE. The number of HSE inspections, Improvement and Prohibition Notices, safety prosecutions and convictions and inspector contact times have all dropped markedly in recent years, though they have risen a little from this low lately.

Official HSE Figures

* Of these deaths, 246 were due to trespass and suicide on railways

Unofficial estimates of deaths in work-related incidents from research by Hazards, TUC, TGWU, CCA, RoSPA, Brake

The official HSE figure of 241 significantly undercounts those killed at and by work.
Unofficial estimates of those killed in incidents is eight times higher at

1,500 to 1,700 each year.

This estimate includes:

In Japan - where work-related suicide or "karojisatsu" in an officially recognised and compensated occupational condition - estimates give five per cent of all suicides are "company related", equating to over 250 deaths a year in the UK - more than HSE's total for occupational fatalities.

A 2002 Australian analysis of suicide causes over the decade to 2000 would also suggest a UK work-related toll in excess of 100 deaths per year (Hazards 83). http://www.hazards.org/suicide/cryingshame.htm

Deaths due to work related illness

Advice centres, victim support groups, local and national campaigns, other sources of information and support The Hazards Campaign is a national network established in 1988, financed by donations from supporting groups and individuals. It draws together Hazards Centres, Occupational Health Projects, health and safety groups and Trades Union Councils' Safety Committees, specific campaigns and individual health and safety activists. Specific campaign groups include the Construction Safety Campaign, bereaved relatives groups, asbestos support groups, RSI support groups, pesticide sufferers groups, campaigns against hazards affecting black and ethnic minority groups and toxic waste groups.

The campaign works by: sharing information and skills; campaigning on specific issues; acting as a national voice; issuing press releases; holding conferences; establishing national initiatives, including Workers Memorial Day; lobbying MPs, MEPs and statutory bodies. The Campaign organises the annual Hazards Conference and holds meetings about five times a year which are open to anyone sharing the aims of the campaign.

The Hazards Campaign, c/o Greater Manchester Hazards Centre, Windrush Millennium Centre, 70 Alexandra Road,
Manchester, M16 7WD . website www.hazardscampaign.org.uk