Employees in Gosport have a 0.50 per cent risk, but if you work in Fareham, this falls to just 0.39 per cent.

Whether sprained ankles or lost fingers, your chances of suffering an injury at work are slowly getting less and less, the latest figures from the Health and Safety Executive show.

Portsmouth has the lowest rate of accidents since 2003/04, with 383 injuries requiring three days or more off in 2007/08, against 454 for 2006/07, and 89 major injuries versus 107 the year before.

Although the pattern over five years shows a downward spiral in three-day-plus injuries, and a slower drop in major accidents such as broken bones or trips to the hospital, it is not a smooth decline.

Havant saw the number of major injuries rise to a five- year high of 44, up from 36 in 2003/04, and from 27 last year, and Chichester saw a jump in three-day-plus injuries from 156 to 177 over the past 12 months.

The number of people coming a cropper in Hamp-shire workplaces is shown to be in decline, with 3,005 three-day-plus injuries in 2003/04 ebbing away to 2,614 this year, and a similar but slower decrease in major incidents from 779 to 745 over the same period.

The Health & Safety Executive has welcomed the news but called for some industries, such as construction and waste and recycling, to improve.

Heather Bryant, regional director of the Health & Safety Executive East and South East, said: 'These figures are really encouraging. The south-east region has seen significant drops in the number of people getting injured at work and those taking time off work for work-related illness.'

The data, released on Wednesday, also reveal some unusual trends.

The service sector consistently accounted for roughly twice the number of injuries as construction and manufacturing – combined.

'Heavy industry and construction have tightened up considerably in the last few years,' said Malcolm Hyde, regional director of the CBI.

'It could be there are more people in the service industry. If you've got five times as many people in the service sector you've got five times the potential for accidents.

'But that the number of accidents is in decline overall comes back to the fact that employers are more responsible in terms of protecting their employees, and employees are more aware, too.

'I don't think regulation is the answer. Because what happens there is people from Health and Safety would visit on an ad hoc basis. They should target companies that have a poor record as a priority.'

Although there have been just seven successful prosecutions of Portsmouth companies or individuals in the last eight years by the HSE, he said the move towards passing corporate manslaughter charges up the chain of command was making a difference.

Despite being one of the biggest workplace killers, slow death by asbestos – in which Portsmouth ranks fifth worst in the UK – does not appear in the statistics.

Louis MacDonald, secretary of Portsmouth Trades Council, representing trade unions in the area, said: 'What we've been saying for many years is that accidents don't just happen. In a lot of cases costs override common sense and safety and that's when you move from an accident to a tragedy.

'Take asbestos. Up until really recently, companies were still denying this is a problem. Although I think people now understand the message, I still don't think they understand how prevalent it is. It's in schools, offices, I've got some in my own house.

'What has definitely got to get better is the number of inspectors has fallen. Whilst companies used to expect an inspection every seven years, they can now only get one every 11 years.'

He said what he wanted to see was a culture where 'responsibility trickles up', rather than resting with a subordinate member of staff.

'If you're a managing director and you think, "I'm going to go to jail," it'll concentrate the mind, and you'll pass it down the chain,' he said.

'I'm not saying everyone should go around in carpet slippers – that's not the nature of work – but it does have to be safe.'