Work-related fatalities as reported under RIDDOR show a total of 137 this last 12 months.
In recent years the Government has removed certain figures from the total including:
- road accidents on way to and from or during work
- workers traveling by air or sea, as there are different investigators and reports covering maritime and air travel
- deaths by natural causes like heart attacks or strokes, which may be brought on by trauma due to an accident
- armed forces
- patients and service user deaths in medical areas
Is there a Downward trend? Or are the figures being watered down or covered up? We need to fight for the living to say any work-related death is preventable and use our health and safety expertise to win the day.
There have been 137 fatalities between 2016-17
In Construction 30 people killed
Agriculture 27 workers killed
Waste and recycling. 14 killed at work (this industry has seen a big increase with the average doubled for previous years it’s now 18 x the average for other industries in relation to the size of the industry)
Wholesale/retail/food 12 killed
Transport and storage 14 killed
Manufacturing 19 killed at work
Other 33. Including Communications/finance 8; public authority such as in education, health, social work 6 people.
Mines and quarries 4 people no longer with us; electricity-gas workers 3 deaths by work-related accidents
Main accident causes are by vehicles, falls from height, Struck by moving or falling objects
Trapped by collapsing or overturning equipment, or moving machinery and electricity,
Ages
Unknown - 5
Aged 16-59 - 98
Over 60. – 34 deaths, but this category is only 10% of the workforce
Self-employed deaths more than double other workers
92 members of the public killed due to work-related accidents