Fatalities at work are of course truly awful. We represent the families for cases and its never easy – especially when we live in a country where health and safety is deemed as generally very good.
Official statistics from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) have confirmed the number of fatalities between April 2014 and March 2015. The figure is slightly up on last year, but the trends of the UK as a safe country continues to improve.
The HSE have confirmed there were 142 fatal incidents in the workplace between April 2014 and March 2015. The previous year’s figure was an all time low of 136. So whilst the figures for last year are only ever so slightly higher, the general trend shows that the number of incidents continue to fall in the long term.
Of the figures, 35 fatalities were in construction; 33 were in agriculture; and five were in waste and recycling industries. The statistics still show that the UK remains one of the safest places to work in Europe.
In a statement from Judith Hackitt of the HSE Chair:
“It is disappointing last year’s performance on fatal injuries has not been matched, but the trend continues to be one of improvement. Our systems and our framework remain strong as demonstrated by our performance in comparison to other countries.Every fatality is a tragic event and our commitment to preventing loss of life in the workplace remains unaltered. All workplace fatalities drive HSE to develop even more effective interventions to reduce death, injury and ill health.”