Legal Specs

400 People Die Every Fortnight As A Result Of Work

29 May 2008

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) has released figures which show that the equivelant to a jumbo jet full of people die due to work every fortnight. Their figures are much higher than figures released by the HSE as they take into account more than just the 241 people who die in accidents at work.

The RoSPA figures include those who die in work related road accidents and those who have come to an early death due to health problems created by working conditions. The complete figure that they have come up with is that 400 people are dying every week as a result of their working conditions.

Roger Bibbings, Occupational Safety Advisor for RoSPA points out the tragic fact that many of these deaths go unnoticed by the general public.

“If one jumbo jet crashed every two weeks killing all 400 people on board there would be a national outcry – and that is the rate at which workers are dying. [but] because workers rarely die in high-profile disasters, their plight and the silent suffering of their families tends to go unnoticed.”

By focusing on workplace accidents and not taking into account the bigger picture and great risks which workers face every day, we are missing a big chunk of victims. Accidental injuries suffered at work are the most reported and are usually the types of cases which victims claim compensation for.

People need to be aware that it does not have to be a freak accident for them to claim against their employer. If your health has suffered in any way as a result of your job, you may be able to claim.

Roger Bibbings re-iterates the scale of the problem regarding injuries as well as deaths. The figures are almost uncomprehensible.

“There are more than 1.1m work-related injuries annually and about 2.2m cases of ill health caused or made worse by work. In all, this is estimated to [cost businesses] about 36 million lost working days. [That is] equivalent to more than 20 jumbos landing every day in the UK loaded with sick and injured people.”

Driving at work is one of the biggest risks according to the RoSPA figures. Work related drving accidents are often under reported and can be hard to avoid as driving is a dangerous activity that we all undertake at some point. Employers are being called upon to reduce the risks faced by employees driving at work. About 1,000 people die while out on the road as a result of their job.

Those who suffer long term health problems resulting in an early death are hard to acurately count, but the figure is estimated to run into the thousands.

Carys is an author of several articles pertaining to No Win No Fee, Compensation Claims, Personal Injury Claims and other legal articles.