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• Injury and illness (rates and causes)

Injury and illness rates and causes

Our main measure of injury and illness is the number of incidents which result in one or more days away from work (lost time). We express this as a rate per 100,000 hours worked.

Our target was to reduce this lost-time rate by 15% each year to the end of 2005. In fact this rate has not improved since 2003, which suggests that we have reached a plateau in the effectiveness of our prevention programmes.

In 2006 we will renew efforts to improve the effectiveness of these programmes, but will also focus on reportable injuries and illnesses that do not result in time off work. (Reportable incidents are more serious than first aid, even though they do not result in a day off work.) Safety experts believe that addressing the causes of these less serious injuries will result in improvements in both categories.

We also measure the number of days lost from injuries and illnesses. This provides an indication of the severity of the incidents, although it is only a rough guide. For example, an illness could lead to permanent hearing loss or other disability without resulting in significant lost time.

The main data covers GSK employees and contract workers who we directly supervise. Separately, we report data for contractors who work on GSK sites but supervise their own staff. (This data is not covered by the ERM verification).

Causes of injuries and illnesses
Injuries with and without lost time arise mainly from slips, trips or falls, over-exertions or strains and motor vehicle accidents.

Lost-time illness stems mainly from mental ill-health and musculoskeletal problems (primarily repetitive strain injury). Musculoskeletal illness is the main cause of reportable illness which does not lead to days off work, accounting for about a third of the total.

Mental ill-health
Cases of work-related mental ill health are excluded from the overall illness rate. This is because the consistency of reporting such cases is less robust than other occupational illnesses and there are variations in the way these illnesses are defined under local legislation which affects reporting. We are working to address these inconsistencies and aim to include these cases in the future. In 2005, the mental ill health rate (involving lost time) was 0.01 per 100,000 hours worked. Mental ill-health was the second most significant cause of work-related sickness absence, accounting for 41% (1026 days) of the total.

For information on programmes to reduce illness and injury, see Health Programmes and Safety Programmes.

2005 highlights
At 77 sites in 30 countries, there were no lost time injuries or illnesses during the year. In addition:

• one site in India achieved 5 million hours worked without a lost time injury or illness;
• one site in Singapore achieved 4 million hours worked without a lost time injury or illness;
• six sites in Canada, China, India and Pakistan achieved 2 million hours worked without a lost time injury or illness;
• fourteen sites in China, France, India, Mexico, Pakistan, Philippines, South Africa, UK, and the US achieved 1 million hours worked without a lost time injury or illness.

For more information see injury and illness milestones.

Performance
The table summarises our experience in 2005, while the charts illustrate trends.

In 2005 we recorded 984 injuries and 344 illnesses, compared to 949 and 406 respectively in 2004. Employees lost working days in 624 of these incidents (580 in 2004). Comparing our record with the expected relationship between incidents that result in lost time and those which don’t suggests that we undercount the real number of injuries and illnesses that do not result in lost time. We are working to improve our reporting of these injuries and illnesses.

In 2005, approximately 17% of illnesses resulted in permanent disabilities, such as noise-induced hearing loss, sensitisation to chemicals and some musculoskeletal illnesses.

GSK's injury and illness performance placed us in the third quartile of a benchmark industry group in 2004.

Causes of injuries and illnesses
The main causes of injuries were motor vehicle accidents, slips, trips and falls. Illnesses leading to lost time were mainly musculoskeletal or concerned with mental ill-health. Chemical-related dermatitis following exposure to chemicals at work caused a significant number of illnesses which did not lead to lost time.

Our record in 2005

Workplace injury and illness incidents
	GSK employees		Contractors*
	Injuries	Illnesses
Incidents leading to lost time	547	50	100
- musculoskeletal (included above)	90	30
- mental illness (not included above)		27
Days lost (excluding mental illness)	11,080	1,492	1,551
Reportable incidents (not leading to lost time)	437	261	276
- musculoskeletal (included above	73	80
- mental illness (not included above)		6

*contractor data is not included in the verification by ERM

Summary tables

Injuries and Illnesses with lost time – rate per 100,000
Year	Injury	Illness
2001	0.39	0.04
2002	0.31	0.03
2003	0.28	0.02
2004	0.27	0.03
2005	0.28	0.03

Injuries and Illnesses without lost time – rate per 100,000
Year	Injury	Illness
2001	0.56	0.15
2002	0.47	0.17
2003	0.39	0.25
2004	0.22	0.18
2005	0.22	0.13

Calendar days lost - rate per 100,000
Year	Injury	Illness
2001	8.61	0.07
2002	7.02	1.16
2003	6.14	0.68
2004	6.53	0.74
2005	5.58	0.75

Supplier health and safety performance
In 2005 we requested information from 39 suppliers (includes both contract manufacturers and key suppliers), 23 of which provided data. Some of these had not provided data in 2004 so we do not have comparative figures. In 2005, these 23 suppliers reported a total of 32.7 million work hours.

Lost time injury and illness
There were 187 lost time injuries and 16 lost time illnesses, a rate of 0.62 lost time injuries and illnesses per 100,000 hours worked.

Injury and illness without lost time
There were 641 injuries without lost time and 75 illnesses without lost time, 2.18 injuries and illnesses without lost time per 100,000 hours worked.

Calendar days lost from injury and illness
There were 2,668 lost days from injuries and 940 days lost from illnesses, 11.03 calendar days lost per 100,000 hours worked.

Notes to charts
The health and safety data cover both our employees and contract workers who are directly supervised by GSK employees.

All injury and illness rates are per 100,000 hours worked.

Lost time injuries and illnesses are work-related injuries and illnesses that are serious enough to result in one or more days away from work.

Lost calendar days are the calendar days that employees could not work because of work-related injuries and illnesses. This helps to provide a measure of the severity of injuries and illnesses.

Reportable injuries and illnesses without lost time are reported incidents that did not result in time away from work (lost time). They are more serious than first aid but generally less serious than lost time.

We do not include cases of mental ill health in our lost time or reportable illness rates. This is because of variations in the way mental ill-health is defined and reported across sites globally, which we are working to address.

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