THE estimated costs of accidents and ill health to the East Lancashire economy last year was a staggering £127 million.

And health and safety chiefs want both employers and their staff in the county to make a New Year's Resolution to cut that figure.

In Blackburn and Darwen alone 429 people suffered work related injuries leading them to take 83,000 days off work and costing the economy £28 million - the highest amount in East Lancashire.

Burnley was hot on Blackburn with Darwen's heels with 261 injuries prompting 58,000 days off at a cost of £20million.

David Ashton, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE)'s North West regional director, said: "We are not interested in the frivolous health and safety issues like banning people playing conkers, but want them to take practical action to deal with real risks and serious health and safety issues that can cost the area so much and lead to great personal suffering.

"We want to concentrate on managing risks that cause real harm, not bureaucratic back-covering."

Mr Ashton said the costs and losses could be crucial for smaller firms.

He said: "Yet it seems I repeat myself in saying that year after year the same underlying trends appear in our accidents statistics - and the tragedy is that deaths and injuries such as these could be avoided.

"If we could eliminate just two of the causes - falling from a height and being struck by moving or falling objects - more than half of the people killed would still be alive today.

"HSE inspectors repeatedly visit the scenes of the accidents and realise that in many cases they could easily have been prevented.

"I call on all businesses to act now to help stop this toll.

"Neither HSE nor employers can rest on their laurels when it comes to workplace safety.

"There is a great deal of work to be done in 2008 and beyond."

Practical precautions employers can take include using safe platforms with guarded edges for working at heights, securing ladders properly, securing loads before moving them and laying workplaces out to keep vehicles and pedestrians apart wherever practical.