The proportion of fatal injuries resulting from falls from a height in the UK has slightly increased on previous years, with the cause of death accounting for 36% of all worker deaths in the annual statistics for 2023/24.
According to the Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) Work-related fatal injuries in Great Britain 2024 report, falls from a height remains the leading cause of fatal injury to workers, with 50 deaths reported in the latest figures, published last week (3 July).
This compares with 37 fatalities for the annual average estimate for the five years spanning from 2019/20 to 2023/24, which, as the HSE explains, ‘reduces the effect of year-on-year fluctuations and provides a more stable current picture’.
Together with being struck by a moving vehicle and being struck by a moving object, falls from a height have accounted for more than half of all fatal injuries each year since at least 2001/02, notes Great Britain’s OSH regulator.
The latest data , which runs to March 2024, reveals that being struck by a moving vehicle accounted for 25 fatal injuries. This represents 18% of the total number of deaths during 2023/24.
The third biggest contributor to fatalities – being struck by a moving object – represented 14% of all fatal worker injuries, with 20 deaths recorded.
In terms of industries, the construction and agriculture, forestry and fishing sectors continue to account for the greatest number of fatalities each year.
The latest data reveals there were 51 deaths in construction (an increase of four on the previous year) and 23 deaths in agriculture, forestry and fishing (an increase in two on the previous year).
The combined figure for these two sectors (74 deaths) comprises more than half of the 138 fatal injuries reported for 2023/24. This is a slight increase on the total recorded in the 2022/23 annual statistics, which was 136 fatal injuries (the same figure, incidentally, for 2013/14).
In fact, since 2013/14, the HSE data shows the number of work-related fatalities has tended to vary from year to year. To give an example, in 2018/2019 the figure was 149, while the following year (2019/20), it was 113. It then climbed to 145 in 2020/21 and then dropped down to 123 for 2021/22. It is important to note, however, that the figures covering the period 2019/20 to 2021/22 include the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
When considering trends over time, the HSE says that it is preferable to consider the rate rather than number of injuries because the former accounts for changes in the numbers of people in employment between years.
Taking employment levels into account, the 138 fatalities in 2023/24 is the equivalent of a fatal injury rate of 0.42 per 100,000 workers.
PROVIDING A SAFE AND HEALTHY WORKING ENVIRONMENT ISN’T JUST AN ADD-ON FOR A BUSINESS
Although comparing the current rate to earlier years is complicated by the pandemic and the government’s response to its impact, the HSE publication states that over the long-term, the rate of fatal injury to workers has shown a downward trend.
It adds that in recent years, prior to the pandemic, the rate has been broadly flat and the current rate reflects levels like those seen before the pandemic.
Returning to construction, it is worth noting that the 51 fatalities recorded in the latest figures is slightly higher than the five-year average, which is 42. What’s more, the HSE notes that the average number of worker deaths in this sector in the latest two years is significantly higher than the pre-pandemic period.
The five-year average for the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector meanwhile is 24 (compared to 23 in the latest figures). However, when you look at the fatal injury rate in terms of the number of fatalities per 100,000 workers employed, this is by far the worst performing sector, notes the HSE report.
Agriculture, forestry and fishing’s fatal injury rate per 100,000 workers is 7.51 for 2023/24, compared to 0.42 for all industries. This is 21 times as high.
Construction by contrast is 2.43 per 100,000 workers. Waste and recycling is the second worst with 3.88 per 100,000 workers or nine times as high as the rate for all industries.
Elsewhere in the annual statistics, male workers accounted for 95% of fatal injuries (131 of the 138 fatalities), which the HSE says is a similar proportion to earlier years.
Just over a third (34%) of fatalities were for workers aged 60 years of age or over. However, it is important to note that this age group only accounts for 11% of the workforce.
In terms of the annual average estimate for the five years spanning from 2019/20 to 2023/24, the latest data underlines how the rate of fatal injury increases with age. Workers aged 60-64 have a rate around twice the rate for all ages while workers aged 65 and over have a rate that is four times as high, says the HSE.
WE NEED TO SEE A JOINED-UP APPROACH TO TACKLE HARM AT WORK TO PREVENT MORE LIVES BEING NEEDLESSLY LOST
The annual statistics reveal that 36% of fatal injuries were to the self-employed, which is significant because they only comprise 15% of the entire workforce. Overall, the fatal injury rate for the self-employed for the five-year period 2019/20 to 2023/24 is around three times that of the employee rate, although this does vary by sector.
For instance, the fatal injury rate to self-employed workers in the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector and administrative and support service activities is around two and three times the employee rate respectively.
The latest HSE report also reveals that 87 members of the public were killed in work-related accidents. However, this does not include deaths due to work-related accidents to ‘patients and service users’ in the healthcare and adult social care sectors in England that are reportable under Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR).
Although this is an increase of 14 fatalities on last year’s 73 deaths, the HSE explains that the average number of member of the public deaths in the last two years is statistically significantly lower than the pre-pandemic period. This is particularly notable in the services sector.
The HSE explains that the fatal injuries to workers and members of the public figures are provisional and will be finalised in July 2025 to reflect any necessary adjustments.
IOSH has responded by calling for a joint effort to reduce the number of workplace deaths.
Commenting on the figures prior to the General Election result, Ruth Wilkinson, head of policy and public affairs, called on whichever party formed the new government to ‘protect and enhance health and safety standards, particularly across high-risk industries like construction’.
She also called on businesses to ‘step up and ensure they have robust occupational health and safety management systems and control strategies in place to prevent accidents at work and reduce the chance of them happening’.
‘Providing a safe and healthy working environment isn’t just an add-on for a business,’ she said.
‘It is now a fundamental principle and right at work, as recognised by the International Labour Organisation. So, we need to see a joined-up approach to tackle harm at work to prevent more lives being needlessly lost.’
