Last week the HSE’s annual health and safety statistics were released.
In Britain in 2019/20 111 workers died as a result of injuries sustained from an accident in the workplace.
Fatal accident as a result of a fall from height
Of the 111 fatalities, 29 were killed as a result of a fall from height, that’s just over 2 per month, the biggest cause of workplace deaths in the UK.
This is a slight decrease from last year where 40 workplace deaths were recorded. The rate of fatal injury has shown a downward trend but has been broadly flat in recent years.
Falls from a height accounted for 25% of all fatal injuries (an average of 34 fatal injuries per year).
The industries where the fatal injuries have taken place.
Over half of all fall from height deaths over the last five years were in the construction sector.
Non Fatal Work at Height Injuries
In 2019/20 693,000 working people sustain an injury at work according to the Labour Force Survey.
Out of the 693,000 non-fatal injuries in the UK, 8% (55,440) are known to be falls from height. That’s 151 every day.
Data source: RIDDOR: Reporting of Injuries Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations. Figures for 2019/20 are published as provisional at this stage and will be finalised July 2021.
Working Days Lost
In 2019/202 There were 6.3 Million working days lost to non fatal workplace injuries. The time taken off to is 9.1 days on average for Injuries. Most falls from height injuries result in at least a broken bone and weeks off work but may have other life changing implications.
Source: Labour Force Survey (LFS) self-reported estimates
Over two thirds of all major work at height injuries are caused by low falls - two meters.
In Summary
These are statistics shared by the HSE, and are a reminder of the dangers of working at height and that there’s still more work to be done to prevent both fatal and non-fatal falls from height in the workplace.
For more information, please visit the HSE website - statistics section: https://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/index.htm
