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Britain's workplace safety regulator have warned businesses in the North East of the continued need to put safety first as new figures reveal the number of employees killed at work.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) recently published provisional figures showing that there were nine fatal injuries reported in the North East in 2008/09, compared with seven in the previous year.
Over the past five years there have been, on average, nine deaths as a result of workplace accidents in the region.
The number of people killed at work in Britain has fallen to a record low with 180 workers were killed in 2008/09 – down 17 per cent on the previous lowest total of 217, which was recorded in 2005/6.
Pam Waldron, HSE’s Head of Operations in the North East, said many of the deaths could have been prevented by simple and sensible precautions.
“The fact that nine people failed to come home from work in the North East last year because of avoidable safety failings is a terrible tragedy.
“There are families throughout the region who have been cruelly robbed of a loved one in incidents that in many cases were entirely preventable. We owe it to them and to the workers who have lost their lives to continue to put safety first.
“This is all the more important given the economic problems facing the North East. We know from evidence of past downturns that when the period of economic recovery comes it generally sees an increase in the rate and number of workers losing their lives.
“What is important is that people manage the real risks and take a sensible approach to health and safety rather than be diverted by the myths of health and safety.”
The provisional figure for the number of workers fatally injured across Great Britain in 2008/09 is 180 - the lowest level of workplace fatalities on record. This corresponds to a fatal injury rate of 0.6 per 100,000 workers - a fall of 25 per cent on the previous year.
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