In July this year, the HSE released the 2018/2019 statistics for ‘Fatal Accidents in Great Britain’. Sadly, there were 147 fatal accidents in the workplace during this time-period.
Although the figures are still being finalised, there are several key points which we should all consider and reflect upon.
Industries which saw the most fatalities were:
- Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing
- Construction
- Manufacturing
In terms of fatal accident causes, it’s clear that the two biggest issues were:
- Fall from heights
- Being struck by a moving vehicle
And it’s not only workers who have been affected – 92 members of the public were also killed by work related activities in the same time-period.
You can view the full statistics here:
We can always improve and learn from our practices and policies, and hopefully prevent further loss.
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Imagine, 147 fatal accidents would affect at least 147 families, workplaces and a whole range of different people.
Scotland was counted as a whole county on its own for some reason in the statistics, by the English statistics broke down the locations of the fatalities, and the West Midlands had the highest amount of fatalities at 20 and the North East of the UK had 5. The whole country of Wales had a reported 7 fatal accidents.
The sad thing is that you and I have become numb to this information, it’s another risk of being prosecuted, or someone told you that red meat kills too, and more people die at home in workplace accidents. It’s really hard to take this report and look at it, and feel what it’s trying to say. It’s saying that 147 people had their lives cut short illegally. That families will no longer have their loved one, and children will grow up without a parent. None of these employer’s planned for this to happen, but they didn’t plan for safety adequately either, and now in the eyes of the law they’ve killed someone. If you’re an employer could you imagine being called a murder?
We all learn from experience, let this report be our experience and not put learning in to practice.
