SAFETY watchdogs are calling on firms in the Bradford district to look after their staff after workplace deaths in the region rose last year.

The Health and Safety Executive is marking its 40th anniversary by appealing to West Yorkshire businesses to make the well-being of workers their top priority for the new financial year.

New figures show that 17 people lost their lives at work across the Yorkshire region in 2013/14 while 7,422 were injured. In 2010/13 there were 15 deaths and 7,649 injuries. In West Yorkshire, six workers died and more than 3,000 were injured compared with seven deaths and a similar number of injuries the previous year.

Across the region more than 110,000 people were estimated to have suffered work-related illness, including 44,000 in West Yorkshire.

There were no workplace deaths in the Bradford district last year and the number of reported injuries was 718.

HSE said the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 had made the UK one of the safest places to work in the world.

The latest figures show workers in construction, manufacturing and waste and recycling are most at risk, with agriculture needing sustained improvement.

John Rowe, HSE regional head of operations, said: “Workplace conditions have improved dramatically in the past four decades, but as employers plan and prepare for the new financial year they need to ensure that health, safety and welfare is a clear focus.”