Workplace accidents are unplanned events (which may be a result of management failure) that can cause death, injury, pain and suffering to employees, their families, work colleagues and sometimes members of the public. As well as the human costs, the financial costs associated with accidents can also be considerable both for the injured person(s) and for the employer(s).
HSE statistics show that every year:
- over 200 workers and over 300 members of the public die as a result of workplace accidents (the public deaths are mainly due to railway related incidents, including suicides);
- over 150,000 injuries to employees are reported under RIDDOR (nearly 6 in every 1,000 employees) of which 40 percent occurred during activities related to manual handling;
- over 30,000 major injuries are reported under RIDDOR with a third being accounted for by slips and trips;
- 2 million people suffer from an illness they believe was caused or made worse by work; and
- 35 million days are lost (1.5 days per worker), 28 million due to workplace injuries and 7 million due to work-related ill-health.
Under-reporting is estimated to be as high as 50 percent so the actual figures are undoubtedly higher.
Incidents (accidents which do not cause injury) are an important learning opportunity and understanding why they occurred can help prevent injury accidents taking place. Understanding and rectifying the causes of accidents is an important part of health and safety management (see health and safety management systems).