New UK workplace incident figures show that a total of 142 workers were killed at work in Great Britain in 2020/21, an increase of 29 from the previous year.

In statistical terms the number of fatalities has remained broadly level in recent years – the average annual number of workers killed at work over the five years 2016/17-2020/21 is 136.

The figures, released by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), relate only to workplace incidents. They do not include deaths arising from occupational exposure to disease, including COVID-19.

HSE’s Chief Executive, Sarah Albon, said that while the modern working world has created new health challenges for workers and for those who have a duty towards them, safety must also “remain a priority.”

“Whilst the picture has improved considerably over the longer term and Great Britain is one of the safest places to work in the world, every loss of life is a tragedy, we are committed to ensuring that workplaces are as safe as they can be and that employers are held to account and take their obligations seriously.”

The three most common causes of fatal injuries continue to be workers falling from height (35), being struck by a moving vehicle (25) and being struck by a moving object (17), accounting for more than half of fatalities in 2020/21.

These figures also continue to highlight the risks to older workers with around 30 per cent of fatal injuries in 2020/21 involving workers aged 60 or over, even though such workers only make up around 11 per cent of the workforce.

In addition, members of the public continue to be killed in connection with work-related incidents. In 2020/21, 60 members of the public were killed as a result of a work-related incident.

The figures for Mesothelioma, a cancer contracted through past exposure to asbestos, show 2,369 people died from the disease in Great Britain in 2019. This is seven per cent lower than the average of 2,540 deaths over the previous seven years.

Current mesothelioma deaths largely reflect occupational asbestos exposures that occurred before the 1980s. The figure for 2019 is consistent with projections that a reduction in total annual deaths would start to become apparent at this point. However, it is still not certain how quickly annual deaths will decline.

A fuller assessment of work-related ill-health and injuries, drawing on HSE’s full range of data sources, will be provided as part of the annual Health and Safety Statistics release on 16 December 2021.

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