A fresh warning's been issued after four Kent workers lost their lives in industrial accidents last year - the worst figure in the South East.

A further 734 suffered a major injury in 2010/2011. That compares with just one death and 767 major injuries the previous year.

Nationally, 171 people were killed in work last year - also a rise from the previous year, when there were 147 deaths.

In Kent, the deaths were in Dover, Gravesham, Medway and Shepway.

Now the Health and Safety Executive is urging employers to make the safety of workers their top priority for 2012, and is reminding them of their legal responsibility to ensure lives are not put at risk.

The latest provisional figures show that, on average, six in every million workers were killed while at work between April 2010 and March 2011.

Mike Walters, HSE Principal Inspector for Kent, said:

"The families of the four workers in Kent who lost their lives last year had to face Christmas without them. Hundreds of other workers have had their lives changed forever by a major injury.

"These statistics highlight why we need good health and safety in British workplaces. Employers should spend their time tackling the real dangers that workers face rather than worrying about trivial risks or pointless paperwork.

"It's important to remember that we still have one of the lowest rates of workplace deaths in Europe, but one death is still one too many. I'd urge businesses to help cut the number of deaths in 2012."

Nationally, high-risk industries include construction, which saw 50 deaths last year, agriculture with 34 deaths, and waste and recycling with nine deaths, making up more than half of all workplace deaths in Great Britain during 2010/11.