HSE Releases Annual Workplace Fatality Figures

THE HEALTH and Safety Executive (HSE) has released its annual figures for work-related fatal injuries for 2018/19 as well as the number of people known to have died from the asbestos-related cancer, mesothelioma, in 2017.

The provisional annual data for work-related fatal injuries revealed that 147 workers were fatally injured between April 2018 and March 2019 (a rate of 0.45 per 100,000 workers).

The data also revealed that there has been a long-term reduction in the number of fatalities since 1981. Although, 2018/19 saw an increase of six workplace fatalities from 2017/18, the number has remained broadly level in recent years.

Annual Workplace Fatality Figures

The new figures show how fatal injuries are spread across the different industrial sectors, with the construction, agriculture, forestry and fishing sectors continuing to account for the largest share of fatal injuries to workers (32 and 30 deaths respectively in 2018/19).

The report revealed that the three most common causes of fatal injuries continue to be; workers falling from height (40), being struck by a moving vehicle (30) and being struck by a moving object (16), accounting for nearly 60 per cent of fatal injuries in 2018/19.

Ken Diable, Managing Director and Founder of Heightsafe

Ken Diable, Managing Director and Founder of Heightsafe commented: “To see that fatal injuries have increased is both extremely saddening and deeply frustrating, especially as again falls from a height continue to be the most prevalent workplace killer.

“It is an enormous tragedy that deaths as a result of Working at Height have increased 11% in the last five years. That is forty families robbed of a loved one in circumstances that were more than likely preventable.

“Despite efforts from government, regulators and charities to draw attention to the deadly risks that poor Work at Height practices pose, there are still strongly embedded attitudinal and cultural issues in the most dangerous sectors, such as construction and agriculture.

“Information, equipment and expertise is readily available to ensure that falls from height are prevented and it beggars belief that some employers will allow poor Working at Height practices when the figures show just how deadly it can be.”

Risk to Older Workers

The new figures also continued to highlight the risks to older workers; 25 per cent of fatal injuries in 2018/19 were to workers aged 60 or over, even though such workers made up only around 10 per cent of the workforce.

In addition, the investigation revealed that there were also 92 members of the public fatally injured in incidents connected to work in 2018/2019, approximately a third of which took place on railways.

According to the HSE, mesothelioma, which is contracted through past exposure to asbestos and is one of the few work-related diseases where deaths can be counted directly, killed 2,523 in Great Britain in 2017- a broadly similar number to the previous five years. The HSE believes annual deaths will remain broadly at current levels for the rest of the decade before beginning to reduce in number.

A full assessment of work-related ill-health and injuries, drawing on HSE’s full range of data sources, will be provided as part of the annual Health and Safety Statistics release on 30 October 2019.