Dying at work is "several times more likely than being a victim of homicide, a new report claims.
According to A Crisis of Enforcement: The decriminalisation of death and injury at work, figures released by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) only represent a fraction of the true number of work-related deaths each year.
The paper, which is published by the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies, states that as HSE figures do not include road accidents involving employees or members of the public who die in workplaces, the actual number of death is around six times higher than the headline figure.
It claims that around 1,300 people die at work each year, compared to around 765 homicide victims.
The report also blames the low-level of health and safety related-prosecutions on funding cuts at the HSE which have been driven by government.
However, John McLaren-Stewart, chief executive officer of Alliance Corporate Risk Management, disagrees with the findings.
Speaking to Post magazine he said: "We must not generalise and assume that the majority of bosses and business owners are not taking their responsibilities seriously."
