Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents reports 90% rise in accidental deaths from falls - how robust is your workplace health and safety policy?
1. Background
Data recently collated by The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) found that almost half (46%) of all accidental deaths (more than 9,700 people) in 2022 resulted from falls - a rise of 90% in ten years. In fact, falls in England topped the list of the most common causes of accident-related hospital admissions in 2022/3, making up 61%.
The report estimates that preventable accidents cost the UK £12bn each year in lost working days and medical care.
Does your organisation have a robust health and safety policy in place?
How confident are your health and safety employees at conducting investigations of serious incidents that occur in the workplace?
2. Why are accidents on the rise in the UK?
The RoSPA blames “complacency”. In its report ‘Safer Lives, Stronger Nation – Our Call for a National Accident Prevention Strategy’, which was compiled in partnership with tool hire company Speedy Hire, respective chief executives Rebecca Hickman and Dan Evans called for a government-backed initiative to improve safety in the UK.
Accidents are most commonly caused by complacency: the thing we know we really should fix that is instead left unrepaired, the task we decide to cut a corner on, they said. This report shows that for too long the UK has proudly but mistakenly assumed that its safety systems are ‘good enough’. We hope the trends we have identified will act as the moment the nation realises that it has actually been asleep at the wheel – that the time for system change has arrived.
Chief Executives
3. Accidents at work – a cost of over £7 billion
Workplace accidents are responsible for over a hundred deaths annually in the UK and cause many thousands of injuries. In 2022/3, work-related accidents led to 3.7 million lost working days, and cost the UK £7.7bn, including billions in lost output in the billions. The data also shows that there were 37% more days lost to accidents at work than to strikes in 2023.
Those working in construction or the energy industry are particularly at risk of injury, or even death, from accidents involving working at height. For example, the National Grid was recently fined £3m after its failures left a father-of-two with life-changing injuries from working on a pylon in South Wales.
The accident, which happened on 3 December 2020, left 50-year-old Justin Hollins with burns to 40 per cent of his body, after he sustained an electric shock of 33 thousand volts. An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that both 4 Power and the National Grid had failed to assess the risk and plan properly for the work, as a result they were fined £80,000, plus costs of £14,123, and £3.2m, plus costs of £20,460, respectively.
In a more recent case, EE Renewables Limited was fined £120,000 after an HSE investigation found it had not properly planned a job that took place at height, resulting in a 23-year-old employee falling four metres and breaking his leg.
4. Health and safety training – why is it important?
Bond Solon’s Certified Serious and Major Accident Investigator – Level 6 Advanced Practitioner qualification is essential for health and safety professionals.
Delivered in partnership with Astutis, the leading training provider for Health, Safety and Environmental training, the qualification is awarded by the International Compliance Association.
It helps health and safety professionals to mitigate the legal, regulatory and financial risks associated with workplace incidents, as well as teaching them the necessary skills, knowledge and procedures to be able to manage and carry out investigations to best practice standards, when an accident does happen.
For more information or to find out how you can book this course please contact 020 7549 2549 or email info@bondsolon.com