Accidental deaths in UK reach all-time high: RoSPA

Preventable accidents cost the UK £12 billion every year in lost working days and medical expenses, said RoSPA in its Safer Lives, Stronger Nation report.

People are much more likely to die from an accident at home than in the workplace, says RoSPA's report. Photograph: iStock/Double-Vision

A total of 7.7 million working days were lost in 2022/23 by people who had suffered an accident and were unable to work, or who had to take time off to care for somebody else who had suffered an accident. This is costing UK businesses about £5.9 billion annually.

People are far more likely to die from an accident at home than in the workplace, according to the report. In 2019, 7,751 people died after an accident at home, accounting for 55 per cent of all accidental deaths in England, compared with 149 deaths caused by accidents at work.

The total rate of accidental deaths in the UK has increased by 42 per cent in the last decade, RoSPA’s figures show. Accidents are responsible for 20,000 deaths a year – almost half of which are the result of falls. Poisonings were the second biggest cause of accidental death in 2022, accounting for 26 per cent of deaths after seeing a 96 per cent increase over the last decade. Deaths caused by road traffic accidents have fallen 17 per cent in the past 10 years and accounted for seven per cent of accidental deaths in 2022.  

RoSPA is calling on the Government to implement a National Accident Prevention Strategy to bring down the number of deaths and serious injuries from accidents, no matter where they occur.

“By implementing a National Accident Prevention Strategy to sit across government departments problems can be tackled at their core, with a joined-up approach to cover all types of accidents – whether they happen at home, on the road, at work or in public,” said RoSPA chief executive Becky Hickman.

“For too long we have accepted the economic and social consequences of accidents, and we’re still paying the price.”