It is a sad fact that, on average, every working day, someone goes to work and does not return home. Around 230 people die as a result of workplace accidents each year and a further 160,000 people receive major injuries each year.

Within the timber industry, there are typically two fatalities each year and around 1,500 major injuries. In the past four years, the main cause of fatalities has been contact with moving machinery which has accounted for five deaths in woodworking. Being struck by a moving vehicle has caused two deaths, and one was the result of a fall from height.

One of these incidents involved a sideloader vehicle in a fatal collision with a pedestrian on a section of road in the sawmill. The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) brought a prosecution due to a failure to identify, assess and manage risks, failure to segregate pedestrians and vehicles along with a failure to inform drivers and pedestrians of safe systems of work. The company was fined £100,000.

Much more common than fatalities are “major” or “over three-day” accidents. The former category includes a wide range of injuries such as any fracture other than to the fingers, thumbs or toes or any amputation. An over three-day accident, is where the person is off work for more than three days, with the first day being counted as the day after the accident.

Manual handling

The single biggest cause of reportable accidents in the timber industry is manual handling (24% in 2004/5) – the movement of items using bodily force. The same is true in most industries, though the percentage is generally higher at an average of 36% for all industries and 41% in furniture manufacturing.

The second biggest cause of reportable injury in woodworking is being hit by something such as moving vehicles and falling timber. The latter often results from lengths of timber being stored vertically against a wall and falling onto someone when accidentally knocked or purposely tilted to remove one of the underlying pieces. To address this problem, the HSE has issued a guidance note on the safe stacking of timber (www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/wis2.pdf).

Contact with moving machinery is the third biggest cause of reportable accidents. Accidents most commonly occur on circular saws, one of the reasons for which is that these apparently simple machines are the ones on which untrained operators are most often set to work.

It is good to see that the trend with reportable accidents has been downward for the past four years, decreasing from 1,502 in 2002 to 942 in 2005. This downward trend contrasts with the figures for the furniture industry which are relatively static.

Legal duty

Hopefully the downward trend of reportable accidents in the timber industry is due to an improvement in safe working practices rather than a deterioration in the rate of reporting. Companies have a legal duty to report a range of accidents to the HSE in accordance with the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 (RIDDOR). The simplest way to notify the HSE about an accident is through its website www.hse.gov.uk.

In reality, there is a significant amount of under reporting. Some of this may be due to ignorance about the need to report or how to go about it. In addition, some companies are concerned that reporting an accident will automatically lead to a visit from the regulator and a prosecution. However, the HSE only has the resources to investigate a small proportion of the 160,000 reportable incidents each year and, typically, they will target certain types of accident such as a machinery injury to a young person.

As well as the reporting requirements of RIDDOR, all companies have to keep an accident book in which all injuries are recorded. This now needs to have detachable sheets which can be removed and stored in safely for reasons of data protection.

Under the Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981, employers have a duty to ensure that they make adequate first aid provision. Woodworking environments, which are generally relatively high risk, could be expected to have at least one first aider for every 50 employees. Training will typically be provided through a three- to four-day first aid course at work and refresher certification is required every three years.

First aid

Regardless of the number of employees, there must be at least one first aid box at the workplace. Those responsible for first aid are typically given the responsibility of ensuring that the boxes are stocked correctly. The boxes should contain sufficient quantities of suitable first aid materials and nothing else. The HSE suggests a list of items which should be included as well as those which cannot (such as medication).

Some companies also have a first aid room. This should be provided if the establishment presents a high risk from hazards or has more than 250 employees, when such a room would be beneficial.

It is increasingly common for insurance companies to insist that their clients have a documented method of investigating accidents in order to ensure that lessons are learnt and that control measures are reviewed. If the same accident occurs twice, it is much more difficult to defend a claim from an employee and the HSE will typically take a much dimmer view of the incident.

An accident investigation form will normally only be used for more serious incidents. It will record the views of injured parties, any witnesses and the supervisor. The person conducting the investigation will normally be the manager with health and safety responsibility. They must record details of the event using interviews and observation.

The main outcome is the identification of improvements to reduce the risk of a recurrence.