HSE Statistics 2023 Show Half of Construction Deaths were Falls From Height

STATISTICS published by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) show just over half (51%) of all construction fatalities in 2022/23 were falls from height.

Of the total 135 workers killed in work-related accidents in 2022/23 reported by HSE, 45 were in construction. This is compared to 30 in 2021/22. Other industries with the highest death rates were agriculture, forestry, and fishing (21), and manufacturing (15).

HSE Statistics

Overall, the three most common causes of workplace fatalities continue to be falling from height (40), being struck by a moving object (29), and being struck by a moving vehicle (20). In construction, the second most common cause of death was being trapped by something collapsing.

A further 68 members of the public were killed following a work-related accident in 2022/23, a decrease on the previous year (80).

Work-related Illnesses

There were an estimated 69,000 construction workers suffering from work-related ill health in 2022/23. Over half (54%) of these illnesses reported were down to musculoskeletal disorders.

Other common work-related illnesses reported in construction were stress, depression or anxiety (24%) and breathing or lung disorders (0.2%).

Compared to other industries, around 3.3% of workers in construction suffered from work-related ill health in 2022/23. This rate is statistically significantly lower than that for workers across all industries (4.1%).

Work-related illnesses in 2022/23 accounted for 80% of the 2.6 million working days lost in construction.

Workplace Injury

There were 4,038 non-fatal injuries to construction employees reported by employers in 2022/23. Of these injuries, 62% resulted in the incapacitation of a worker for over seven days.

Falls from height were once again the top cause of non-fatal work-related injuries in construction (33%). This is followed by slips and trips (30%), being struck by a moving object (14%) and being injured while handling (7%).

In total, 20% of working days in construction were lost due to workplace injuries.

Mesothelioma

Mesothelioma is a cancer contracted through past exposure to asbestos. The figures show 2,268 people died in Great Britain in 2021 from the disease. This is a fall of 302 compared with the 2,570 deaths in 2020. It is also substantially lower than the average 2,520 deaths per year over the previous 7 years. The figure for 2021 is consistent with projections that total annual deaths would decline gradually during the 2020s, HSE says. Men who worked in the building industry when asbestos was used extensively in the past continue to be most at risk.

>> Read 2024’s HSE annual work-related deaths statistics