HSE year-end figures show rise in workplace deaths

Health & Safety update 03/01/2012

British employers in high-risk industries have been given a new set of warnings by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), after year-end figures showed a dramatic increase in workplace fatalities across the UK in 2010/11.

The body has warned companies to make the safety of their workers their highest priority, after 171 people lost their lives in workplace incidents last year, compared to 147 deaths in 2009/10.

The HSE's principal inspector for the South West region, Nigel Long, said that business owners must remember that it is their legal responsibility to ensure that their workers are not at risk.

"These statistics highlight why we need good health and safety in British workplaces," he said. "Employers need to spend their time tackling the real dangers that workers face and stop worrying about trivial risks or doing pointless paperwork."

Long added that, while the UK still has one of the lowest rates of workplace deaths in Europe, "one death is still one too many."

The figures also showed that more than 24,700 people suffered serious injuries at work during 2010/11. Construction was considered the highest risk industry, with 50 deaths last year, followed by agriculture with 34 deaths and waste handling and recycling, with nine deaths.

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