THE number of people who lose their lives at work nationally has dropped sharply by 85 per cent over the past 40 years, from more than 650 every year in 1974 to a record low of 133 today, new figures reveal.

The number of injuries at work has also reduced considerably - by 77 per cent - over the same time period, from 336,701 to 78,222. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said the statistics illustrated the impact of an Act that "created a flexible, proportionate and world class regulatory system".

In the West Midlands during 2012/13, there were 14 fatal workplace incidents and 1,855 major injuries suffered in the workplace. There were also 6,043 injuries suffered by workers, which kept injured people off work for seven days or longer.

The 1974 Act paved the way for the creation of the Health and Safety Commission and the establishment of the Health and Safety Executive as we know it today, which regulates health and safety law, working with industry to help it manage its health and safety risks effectively and also bringing irresponsible employers to justice.

Minister of State for Health and Safety, Mark Harper, said: “Britain has come an incredibly long way over the past 40 years in protecting its workforce. Our workplace safety record is now the envy of the world, with businesses and governments queuing up to tap into our expertise.

“Any death at work is a death too many but few can dispute that the reduction in fatalities and injuries over the past 40 years is a significant step forward. Britain is now officially one of the safest places in Europe - and the world - to work.

"So, while we all rightly curse false health and safety excuses, it’s worth thinking how fortunate we are today that we can go out to do a hard day’s work safe in the knowledge that our safety is being taken seriously."

Samantha Peace, HSE’s director for Wales, the Midlands and the South West, said: "Our health and safety law places responsibility on those who create risk to manage that risk in a proportionate practical way. It sets standards in terms of outcomes to be achieved, not by strait-jacketing duty-holders and business into doing things in a particular way according to prescriptive rules.

“This means that it is universally applicable, regardless of whether you’re farming, fracking for shale gas or working with nano-materials in an ultra high-tech laboratory.

"The Health and Safety at Work Act may be 40 years old but it - and our regulatory system - are world class."

Last year there were 27 fatal injuries to agriculture workers, 42 in construction and four in waste and recycling, all lower than the average over the past few years.