Construction remains riskiest industry

Wednesday 19 June 2019

Construction sector employees are the most likely to suffer work-related accidents or ill health, with nearly a quarter of all claims for benefit coming from the sector - despite only making up 10% of Jersey's workforce.

The figures were released as part of the Health and Safety Inspectorate (HIS) annual report for 2018, showing the construction sector continuing a trend of the last decade.

Public administration comes second with 15% of claims, followed by retail and motor vehicle repair with 12% of claims.

In 2018, there were 1345 claims submitted for short-term incapacity allowance (STIA) for work-related accidents and ill health. 

Of these, 483 (36%) related to a work-related accident and 862 (64%) to work-related ill health.

Pictured: A breakdown of accidents and ill-health by industry.

Although very comparable to the numbers reported in 2017, due to the 2% increase in the number of jobs in Jersey this represents, in real terms, the lowest rate of combined accident and ill health claims per head of working population since 2006, when the first records are available.

Of the 483 claimants, 56% returned a completed form about their accident. Analysis of this data showed that, as has been the case for several years, the top three causes of accidents (where further information was provided) were falls from height and on the level (22%), stepping on or being struck by objects (28%) and overexertion (29%).

The most common injuries were sprains and strains (44%), fractures (17%), lacerations and open wounds (13%) and concussion and other internal injuries (13%).

Concerning work-related ill health, stress (69%) and musculoskeletal disorders (26%) formed the very significant proportion of all claims, amounting to 95%.