News

Falls top the causes of workplace deaths in 2023

By on

Forty workers lost their lives falling from height last year, 11 more than the year before that, and an increase of five on the past five-year average (35 deaths). Falls remain the most common cause of workplace death.


Most of the falls occurred in construction. Out of the total of 40 workers who died in a fall, 24 of them worked in construction.

These include 57-year-old Mark Smith and 18-year-old Rory Brownlee. Their names are published alongside HSE’s statistics and show how each of the cases was an individual – someone who went to work and did not come home.

Falls remain the most common cause of workplace death. Photograph: iStock

The two reports were published on 6 July and cover the period from 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023. In total, 135 workers were killed in, an increase of 12 on 2021/22 when 123 workers lost their lives.

Commenting, Ruth Wilkinson, Head of Policy at IOSH, said: “This data is a sobering reminder of the consequences of health and safety failures and that our efforts to prevent occupational accidents, incidents, ill health and diseases must not stop. These are 135 lives lost in one year. These are 135 families, friends and colleagues having to cope with a devastating loss. We cannot accept this.

“We can see where the main hazards and risks lie – people working in construction, working at height, workers aged 60 or over. But, with good health and safety, these risks can be prevented and managed.”

HSE’s Chief Executive Sarah Albon said: “While these figures show Great Britain is one of the safest countries in the world to work, safety must continue to be at the top of everyone’s agenda.

“Our mission is to protect people and places and we remain committed to maintaining safe workplaces and holding employers to account for their actions.”

Work-related fatal injuries in Great Britain, 2023 report here

NEWS


ULEZ iStock/Alena Kravchenko

ULEZ expansion helped improve air quality in London, says City Hall report

By Kerry Reals on 26 July 2024

Expanding London’s Ultra Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ) last August contributed to “dramatically lower” pollutant emissions across the UK capital in 2023, according to a report from City Hall.



Liz Kendall

UK Govt to take targeted, local approach to reducing economic inactivity and supporting people back into work

By Kerry Reals on 24 July 2024

The UK’s new Labour Government has unveiled plans to tackle economic inactivity by working with local mayors to design work, health and skills plans that are specifically targeted at helping local people enter or re-enter the workforce.



Offshore Rig iStock Arild Lilleboe

HSE urges offshore oil and gas firms to focus more on safety risks from human error

By Kerry Reals on 23 July 2024

Offshore oil and gas companies are being urged to focus more closely on the potential for human error to cause major accidents, after an inspection of a platform operated by Apache in the North Sea found failings in plans to prevent fires and explosions.