On the 6th July 2022, Statistics were published by the Health and Safety Executive for Fatal injuries in the workplace in Great Britain 2021 to 2022 (year end March)
According to these latest figures, 123 workers were killed in work-related accidents in 2021/2022 (year end March). This is a decrease of 22 fatalities from 2020/2021. It is important to remember that an accident is ‘work-related’ if any of the following played a significant role:
- The way the work was carried out
- Any machinery, plant, substances or equipment used for thee work or
- The condition of the site or premises where the accident happened.
The report details headline numbers on deaths resulting from a work-related accident in 2021/2022 that were reportable under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations or RIDDOR as it is known.
What are reportable injuries?
I shall just take a moment to remind ourselves what reportable injuries are. The following injuries are reportable under RIDDOR when they result from a work-related accident:
- Death of any person
- Specified injuries to workers
- Injuries to workers which result in their incapacitation for more than seven days
- Injuries to non-workers which result in them being taken directly to hospital for treatment, or specified injuries to non-workers which occur on hospital premises.
For this article I will not go into the detail of specified injuries, however you can find out further information on this by accessing INDG453(rev1) – Reporting accidents and incidents at work: A brief guide to the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR) – page 2. The publication can be accessed at – https://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg453.pdf and further information can be found on the HSE website at https://www.hse.gov.uk/riddor/specified-injuries.htm
What were the main industries were fatal injuries occurred?
You may recall my previous article in January 2022 where I discussed the previous statistics on this matter. The profile in these newly released figures is similar. Approximately 25% of fatal injuries to workers occurred in the construction sector, closely followed by the manufacturing sector and the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector each recording approximately 18% of the fatal injuries in 2021/2022.
What kinds of fatal accidents occurred?
Similar to previously released data the most common kinds of fatal accidents to workers continue to be:
- Falls from height
- Struck by moving vehicle
- Struck by moving (including flying/falling) objects
The above kinds accounted for over 50% of the fatal accidents to workers. The statistics only shows accident kinds accounting for 10 or more deaths and two other kinds were published that meet this criteria:
- Contact with moving machinery
- Trapped by something collapsing/overturning
Members of the public?
In addition to the above figures, 80 members of the public were killed in 2021/2022 as a result of a work-related accident. This is an increase of 17 from last year and remains significantly below the pre-pandemic levels which had an annual average of 106 deaths per year to members of the public over the five year period 2015/16 to 2019/20.
What are my duties under RIDDOR?
As a timely reminder The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 places a duty on employers, the self-employed and those in control of premises (also known as the responsible person), to report certain serious accidents and incidents, occupational diseases and specified dangerous occurrences or near misses to the Health and Safety Executive or other enforcing authority and to keep records of such accidents or incidents. It is under the Social Security (Claims and Payments) Regulations 1979, Regulation 25 that states employers must keep a record of accidents at premises where more than 10 people are employed. It is important that you provide your staff with suitable and sufficient, information, instruction and training so that they inform you if they are injured at work and the accident gets recorded in the appropriate manner. A competent person should then review the accident, investigate where required and if the accident is specified injury as defined by RIDDOR, report it accordingly to the enforcing authority.
