The Health and Safety Executive published the results of a survey which showed that people completely underestimate the number of serious injuries and deaths at work. Not only was there a lack of understanding of the number it was also not understood that the overwhelming majority of deaths and seriously injured are men. In 2006/7 five women were fatally injured and the same year 173 men died as the result of injuries at work. Similarly 20,235 men suffered a “major non fatal “ injury with 8,307 women suffering the same. Over 80,000 men had an injury resulting in at least 3 days of work with just under 34,000 women. The last time the HSE did a gender analysis (in 2000 !) it noted that men had a 75% greater risk of suffering a work based injury rising to 85% for serious injuries. Of course as can be seen almost 100% of deaths are men. In these times of gender awareness it is surprising that this hugely disproportionate risk is not made more note of. Similarly figures for serious illness contracted as a result of work show a vastly greater number and risk for men.
If the genders were reversed here, the feminists would finally, at long last, have an issue worth complaining about.
Posted by: Pierce Harlan | Tuesday, 09 June 2009 at 16:31
Many thansk for these stats - reall, really useful - was looking for such data a while back but coudln't find anything. ALl I found was that 19 out of 20 victims of workplace deaths in the EU were men. Therefore looking at these figures, men have it even worse in the UK than other EU countries.
Posted by: John Kimble | Wednesday, 10 June 2009 at 23:06