More staff off with stress

Fewer people died at work last year but more are taking time off due to stress, new figures reveal.

There were 249 fatalities in the workplace between 2001 and 2002, 43 fewer than the previous year.

However, the Health and Safety Commission survey, the second annual report in a 10-year government plan to reduce accidents among Britain's workforce, revealed high levels of stress and illness.

The HSC estimated more than 40 million working days were lost because of work-related illnesses.

By 2010 the campaign aims to have reduced this total by 20 per cent and to have cut fatalities by 10 per cent.