The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has released detailed annual statistics on work-related fatalities that, instead of solely presenting numbers, provide names, ages and other details behind each recorded fatality. It makes for sobering reading.
Of the 138 workers who were killed in work-related accidents in 2023/24, 89% were male, as more men tend to work in high-risk occupations. The number of fatalities in the construction industry in 2023/24 was 51 (four more than the previous year) and indeed the five-year average for fatal injuries in the construction sector is significantly higher than in the period prior to the pandemic (2016/17-2018/19). Fatal injuries in the wholesale, retail, motor repair, accommodation and food services sectors accounted for around 8% of the total.
60 members of the public were killed in work-related accidents in 2023/2024 – these include patients and service users who died while under residential nursing care and in hospitals and services sectors.
Self-employed deaths account for 42% of the total, even though self-employed workers make up just 15% of the workforce.
The HSE states, "This increased rate for self-employed workers is particularly evident in the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector and administrative and support service activities, where the fatal injury rate to self-employed workers is around two and three times the employee rate, respectively".
However, in construction and manufacturing, there is more parity in the rate of fatal injury between employees and self-employed workers.
Surprisingly, the rate of fatalities increases with age. Workers aged 60 or over accounted for 42% of those killed at work, and workers aged 60-64 are twice as likely to be killed. These figures are four times higher for workers aged 65 and over, despite comprising only 11% of the workforce. The cost-of-living crisis is increasing the amount of people working beyond retirement, which could be the cause of the increase in fatality levels amongst these age groups. At the other end of the spectrum is the case of the youngest death recorded – 16-year-old employee Tomos Llŷr Davies who was pronounced dead at the scene by Wales Air Ambulance staff after being struck by a tipper truck at a quarry in Wales.
These tragic statistics can be avoided if organisations implement proper control measures and safe working practices. When profit is prioritised over safety, resources are limited or work is poorly managed, accidents are more likely to happen. Thoughtlessness, carelessness and recklessness can also contribute to these incidents. Managers who fail to act responsibly – by seeking expert advice, testing systems for hazards, training staff or planning hazardous work properly – risk causing harm to people, leading to devastating consequences.
Reading these types of statistics might not be pleasant, but understanding that the 138 people who lost their lives all had names and occupations – and family and friends who will mourn them – might be the key to reducing the amount of preventable workplace accidents.
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