57
21.
Another
area
11
where
there
tends
to
be
misunderstanding is од our industrial accident statistics.
In the adjournment debate in November 1986, I explained why I
believe that our overall industrial accident figures are a
very misleading indicator of actual long-term trends. One
problem is that they are too comprehensive, including every
accident from the most trivial to the extremely serious.
Another problem is that
recent major improvements
employee compensation arrangements have made it much more
worthwhile" for employers to report accidents. The result
has been an increase in reported accidents which does not
necessarily bear any relation to the actual number of
accidents taking place.
Our
*
in
の
72.
л
Our recently introduced
accident statistics will in due
new category of Amajor
course give us a much
better indicator of
of the real trend of
of serious accidents.
However, it has not yet been in effect long enough to give
us any indication of long-term trends.
38.
win may views,
Thus, at present our only reliable indicator, of long-
term trends, is the fatality figures. These are subject to
temporary upturns at times like the present, when the
construction industry is under heavy pressure. However, the
long-term trend has for some years ΠΟΥ been encouragingly
downward. Even allowing for the recent
recent increase, which I
believe will prove to be temporary, our present
figures are still a
substantial
improvement
fatality
оп the
equivalent figures for years ago.