The number of Health and Safety (HSE) investigations into falls from height on construction sites has fallen sharply. A report in Construction News (CN) informs how Prospect, the trade union for engineers, scientists, managers and HSE inspectors, has warned the workplace health and safety body has reduced the number of inspections it is carrying out within construction.
Freedom of Information Act Data
CN obtained the data under the Freedom of Information Act, which showed that in 2023, just 107 investigations into falls from height took place, down from 114 in 2022, 177 in 2016, and 211 in 2017.
The number of fatalities due to falls from height meanwhile had not declined, which is always investigated by the HSE.
Lack of Resources
The information showed that in 2023, 659 investigations were officially shelved because of a “lack of resources.” This is significantly more than in 2015 when just four investigations were shelved. The number of main grade inspectors who are responsible for the HSE’s investigations and inspections dropped from 962 in 2003 to 617 in 2023.
Sue Ferns, senior deputy general secretary at Prospect, warned of the risks due to a lack of available inspectors. “It is clear that the immediate reason for the reduction in investigations into falls from height is the decline in the number of available inspectors. If appropriate levels of inspections and investigations are happening then that should worry anyone who values safety at work,” said Ferns.
She added that the bottom line is that if effective investigations cannot be carried out, there is a risk that the people at fault for the accident may get away with it, “depriving victims of justice and making workplaces less safe.”
Leading Cause of Worker Death
Investigations into height safety are in decline even though falls from height are still the leading cause of worker death in the UK. Statistics by the HSE show that in 2023 – 2024, 50 workers died due to a fall from height in Britain. Accounting for 35 percent of worker deaths over the year, falls from height remain the leading cause of fatal injury in the workforce. Yet alarmingly, height safety investigations are in decline.
Peter Bennett, chair of both the No Falls Foundation, a charity dedicated to preventing falls from height, and the Access Industry Forum, which represents the trade associations and federations involved in work at height, described the steady decline of HSE investigations in recent years because of budget cuts as “disappointing.”
“There is a real risk that some might see a stretched HSE as an opportunity to ‘cut corners’ and put workers’ lives at greater risk, believing incidents now are less likely to be investigated, “said Bennett.
Both the Access Industry Forum and the No Falls Foundation are calling for reforms to the RIDDOR (Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations) process so that more detailed information is collected about incidents.
An HSE spokesperson told CN that they “don’t accept any suggestion that we’re deprioritising construction,” and that the organisation’s guidance for working at height is “well-established and easily accessible.”
The HSE’s guidance on work at height can be viewed here.
To learn more about training for working at heights, get in touch with the team at Ability International today.
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