Falls from height are the leading cause of death within the workforce. Statistics by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) published in early July show that in 2023 – 2024, 50 workers died due to a fall from height in the UK.
Over the year, falls from height accounted for 36% of the 138 worker deaths. Fatal falls from height are now 35% above the five-year average of 37. In recent years, the proportion of falls from height has been steadily increasing, rising from 25% in 2021/22, to 30% in 2022/23, and 35% in 2023/24. 2007/08 was the last time the number of fatal falls from height was more than in 2023/24 when 58 workers lost their lives due to falls from height at work.
The HSE’s data also showed that the average number of worker deaths in construction in the last two years is higher than during the periods of 2016/17 and 2018/19.
Other Causes of Worker Fatalities
Other leading causes of worker fatalities were being knocked down by a moving vehicle, which accounted for 25 deaths to workers in 2023/24, representing 18% of all number of workplace deaths over the year, and being struck by a moving object, which caused 14% of deaths in the workplace.
Higher Among the Self-Employed
The Access Industry Forum (AIF), providers of resources for working at height, notes how deaths from falls from height are higher among the self-employed. In 2022/23, 18 deaths were caused by falls from height, rising to 26 deaths the following year. This is the first time in five years that the number of fatalities to the self-employed exceeded the employed. It is also the highest number of self-employed fatalities in 20 years.
The AIF also informs how reporting workplace fatalities is not without issues, which make it difficult to identify the underlying causes of falls from height. Consequently, whether falls have been caused by human error and negligence, a lack of training, or faulty equipment, is difficult to determine.
Calls for a Simpler Reporting System
To understand the cause of deaths more accurately, the AIF is calling for the reporting system to be made simpler and wants new reporting measures to be introduced so that informed and preventive measures can be put in place.
Alarmingly, as falls from height are revealed to be the leading cause of death at work, the number of Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigations into falls from height in construction has fallen steeply, according to a report by Construction News.
‘Overwhelmingly Bleak’
Peter Bennett OBE, Chair of the AIF and No Falls Foundation described the latest HSE fatal injury figures as painting “an overwhelmingly bleak picture.”
“It’s clear something isn’t working. Most falls from height are avoidable, but only if we can understand what’s causing them in the first place.
“Very little information is provided on the circumstance around fatal (and non-fatal) incidents, with current reporting focused on the type of incident as opposed to what caused it in the first place. This needs to change if we are to tackle the worsening issue of workers being killed, and the number of people who suffer the life-changing consequences of a fall from height,” said Bennett.
To learn more about working at height safety equipment, get in touch with the team at Ability International today.
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