The Staffordshire Moorlands has been named as one of the top 10 most dangerous places to work in the UK in a new study.

A new study by safety products specialists First Mats put the Moorlands in 4th place on the list, which ranks local authorities in the UK by the highest rates of non-fatal accidents.

This is based on data provided by the Health and Safety Executive (hse.gov.uk) that measures the rates of non-fatal accidents per 100,000 workers.

Amongst the authorities listed is Staffordshire Moorlands, which ranks as the 4th most dangerous with 508 non-fatal injuries per 100,000 workers.

Staffordshire Moorlands is also one of the few places on this list that have been experiencing more workplace injuries over time, with 508 non-fatal injuries per 100,000 employees being the worst year so far. The lowest was 337 back in 2016/17.

Richard O'Connor, who helped to conduct the study, said: "The injury rates are unlikely to have anything specifically to do with the region people work in. Instead, they reveal insights into the employment profiles of each of the regions."

Most of the places in the top 10 employ more people in industries such as manufacturing and construction than the national average.

The report is based on workplace injuries over 12 months during 2019/20. The study chose to look only at non-fatal injuries as, fortunately, fatal injuries at work are relatively rare these days, with 111 deaths over the course of 2019/20 compared with 65,427 non-fatal injuries.

Reported non-fatal injury rates have generally been falling over the past few years – from a peak of 3,980 non-fatal injuries per 100,000 workers in 2000/01 to 2,160 last year – but injuries still affected an estimated 693,000 people. The annual cost of this is £5.6 billion, and many injuries have long-term ill-effects on the victims.

Slips, trips or falls account for most of these injuries, 29% of the total, with injuries caused by handling, lifting or carrying being the second most common at 19%.

See the full top 10 below:

1. North Warwickshire - Non-fatal injuries per 100,000 employees: 898

1. Sutton (London) - Non-fatal injuries per 100,000 employees: 777

1. South Staffordshire - Non-fatal injuries per 100,000 employees: 613

1. Staffordshire Moorlands - Non-fatal injuries per 100,000 employees: 508

1. Daventry - Non-fatal injuries per 100,000 employees: 497

1. Bolsover – Derbyshire - Non-fatal injuries per 100,000 employees: 487

1. South Holland – Lincolnshire - Non-fatal injuries per 100,000 employees: 475

1. Broadland – Norfolk - Non-fatal injuries per 100,000 employees: 468

1. Knowsley – Merseyside - Non-fatal injuries per 100,000 employees: 466

1. Blaby – Leicestershire - Non-fatal injuries per 100,000 employees: 465

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