The Health & Safety Executive (“HSE”), Britain’s National regulator for workplace health & safety recently published the annual figures for work-related fatal injuries for 2017/18 . Figures have also been published for those workers dying from mesothelioma - the asbestos related cancer.
The figures reveal that 144 workers were fatally injured in 2017-2018 which is actually an increase of 9 on the previous year. This bucks the trend of a reduction of fatalities since 1981. The number of fatalities has largely remained the same in recent years – see table below
Rate of fatal injury per 100,000 workers
Martin Temple, Chair of the HSE said of the latest results for 2017-2018:
Despite the fact that Britain’s health and safety record is the envy of much of the world, the increase in the number of workers fatally injured is clearly a source of concern.
Published in the same week as the 30th Anniversary of the Piper Alpha disaster, the figures serve as a reminder of why health and safety is so important and that we must not become complacent as we continue on our mission to prevent all forms of injury, death and ill health at work.
The fatalities are spread across a number of different sectors and industries. There were 38 fatalities in construction; 29 involving agricultural workers; 12 in waste and recycling management; and 15 in manufacturing, transport and storage sectors. The most common types of accidents were falling from height (35); struck by a moving vehicle (26); and struck by a moving object (23). Interestingly, 40% of the fatalities involved workers over 60 years of age but yet they represent only 10% of the workforce.
These figures are, in fact, dwarfed by the annual figures for mesothelioma which accounts for over 2,500 fatalities per annum. These figures have remained fairly constant over the last few years and largely relate to the result of exposure to asbestos occurring prior to 1980.
Whilst Britain has consistently had low rates of fatal injuries and remains one of the lowest of all European Countries, there is clearly still work to be done to continue to improve our work environment for all employees.
It is understandable that high risk areas such as construction and agriculture will account for such a high percentage of the fatalities. The high percentage of over 60’s being fatally injured is one to consider in more detail. This is particularly in light of the fact that with the pension changes and the workforce becoming older it will be common place for over 60’s to continue to work well into their 60s and beyond.
As we move towards our inevitable exit from Europe, there will likely be changes to our work place legislation. Of course, it will be important that the safety of the employee is at the core of any such changes and that within a post Brexit environment we continue to be regarded as the envy of our European neighbours when it comes to the safety of the workplace. It will be incumbent upon the HSE to continue to report upon these figures and take any action necessary particularly if there is any hint that deaths begin to rise over the next few post Brexit years.
