The latest HSE figures, published on 6 July, show that 123 workers were killed in work-related incidents in Great Britain in the last year. The data covers the period from April 2021 to March 2022.
The industries with the highest number of deaths were construction (30), agriculture, forestry and fishing (22) and manufacturing (22). These three sectors, with the addition of transportation and storage (16), accounted for for 73% of fatal injuries.
Both the construction and agriculture sectors reported lower figures than the 5-year rolling average (36 and 28, respectively). The manufacturing and transport sectors, however, both saw a higher number of fatalities than the respective rolling averages (19 and 14).
Agriculture, fishing and manufacturing had the highest rate of fatal injury per 100,000 workers.
The most common cause of death at work across all sectors continues to be falls from height (29) and workers being struck by moving vehicles (23) or moving, falling or flying objects (18).
80 members of the public were also killed in work-related accidents.
Whilst these figures show a small but positive step in the right direction, the number of worker deaths is still high and broadly in line with pre-pandemic levels. It therefore remains that all industries need to continue to improve the H&S statistics with a view to making the UK's workplace a safer place.
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