The leading UK-listed mining companies have failed to bring down the number of fatalities at their global operations over the past five years in spite of considerable efforts to do so. A Financial Times survey of five leading UK-listed mining groups - Rio Tinto, Vedanta, Anglo American, Xstrata and BHP Billiton - has found the number of fatalities has stayed the same since 2004.

Anglo American is the only miner surveyed that has reduced fatality figures consistently, though its volume of deaths is the highest. Discounting Anglo - whose number of fatalities dwarfs the rest - the companies recorded 23 deaths in 2004-05, while in 2008 this more than doubled to 54. Anglo reported 49 fatalities in 2005, but cut this figure to 27 in 2008. Anglo's figures are higher than its rivals because its South African platinum operations require mining at greater depths. "In these mines you're two-plus kilometres down," said Anglo. "We are deep-level mining, which is different to open cast, but we are doing our best to reduce fatalities."

Mining companies report their fatality and safety figures at different times in the year, but there were figures reported for the performance in 2008-09. Vedanta and Xstrata's fatalities both increased by three year-on-year, while Rio Tinto and BHP's fell by four and 14 respectively.

"It's a difficult one because, I think, individually companies are seeing results," said Carel Labuschagne, chief executive of IRCA Global, a risk management group advising companies on safety issues. "The problem is the cultural change coming down from management is a process."

Rio Tinto asserted: "Safety is in everything we do. Our figures should be looked at in terms of an expanding workforce. But of course, any fatality is too many and we strive to keep it to an absolute minimum." Many companies point to expanding workforce as an explanation for the static or deteriorating progress on cutting the number of deaths. But the companies also have a "no harm" policy, which aims to reduce to zero the number of fatalities and all attest to a new emphasis and money being put into safety procedures.

Kazakhmys, the FTSE 100-listed company that operates in Kazakhstan and surrounding regions, has a particularly bad safety record. In 2005 it had 37 fatalities before this was reduced to 32 by 2008. By 2009 the number nearly halved from the previous year to 18. "Most of our mines are underground, you have to remember, and we've put a lot of management time and investment into improving the safety record," said Kazakhmys.

Results on injuries are more promising. The standard measure in the industry is the "lost time injury frequency rate", which measures the working hours lost because of injuries for every 1m hours worked. Xstrata and Vedanta have shown considerable reductions in their LTIFR. Xstrata has seen a decrease every year from 5.3 in 2005 to 2.7 in 2009. Vedanta likewise has seen a drop from 5.5 in 2005 to 1.67 in 2009. The other companies surveyed have had more mixed results, with the injury rate oscillating up and down from year to year. There are no binding regulations on mining safety although there are international standards.

"If you want to export to a country, you need to comply," said Mr Labuschagne. "All business units must have consultation and take part in behavioural change processes, then we do auditing to check the effectiveness." Although publicly available information, there is no index tracking the number of fatalities or safety measurements. But the International Committee on Mining and Metals, which is involved in sustainable mining, told the Financial Times that it was "in the early stages" of starting its own "benchmarking database".

The issue is increasingly in the news as scores of miners have died recently in China. This month 25 people were killed at a colliery in central China when underground cables caught fire. The Chinese Work Safety Administration said 671 people had died in coal mine accidents in 2009.