In 2021/22, 123 workers were killed in work-related accidents. That is according to the latest figures from the HSE.

This report provides headline numbers on deaths resulting from a work-related accident in 2021/22 that were reportable under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) to any of the main enforcing authorities for health and safety at work. Numbers include both fatal injuries to workers and to members of the public. The counts for 2021/22 are currently provisional and will be finalised in July 2023 to take account of any necessary adjustments.

Headlines from the statistics include the following:

Fatal injuries to workers by main industry (2021/22)

Around a quarter of fatal injuries to workers in 2021/22 were in the Construction sector (30 deaths), with a further 18% in each of the Agriculture, forestry and fishing sector and the Manufacturing sector (22 deaths in each). This is a similar profile of deaths by industry as seen in previous years.

Fatal injuries to workers by age (2021/22)

Around a quarter of the deaths in 2021/22 were to workers aged 60 and over (29), similar to the profile in earlier years.

Main kinds of fatal accidents for workers (2021/22)

The most common kinds of fatal accidents to workers in 2021/22 continue as:

• Falls from a height.
• Struck by moving vehicle.
• Struck by moving, including flying/falling, object.
• These accounted for over half of all fatal accidents to workers in 2021/22.

Rate of fatal injury per 100,000 workers

Over the long-term, there has been a downward trend in the rate of fatal injuries to workers says the report, though in the recent years prior to the coronavirus pandemic, the rate had been broadly flat. In both 2020/21 and 2021/22 the rate remains broadly in line with pre-pandemic levels.

The public

Eighty members of the public were also killed in 2021/22 as a result of a work-related accident (excluding deaths to ‘patients and service users’ in the healthcare and adult social care sectors in England).

HSE
July 2022