This week, the HSE published their annual statistics on work-related ill health and injury for 2023/24.
The report showed little change in the total number of employer-reported (RIDDOR) accidents with a figure of 61,663 (compared to 61,406 in 2022/23).
Of those total accidents, 4,977 were a result of a fall from height (down just 3.7% from 5,167 in 2022/23).
Non-fatal fall from height injuries account for 8% of all accidents at work reported by employers. This proportion remains the same as previous years.
The figures are higher when we look at the self-reported accidents from the HSE-preferred source, the Labour Force Survey (LFS):
- Up to 37,000 people reported they were injured at work due to a fall from height (up 12% from 33,000 in 2022/23), which is around 6% of the total self-reported accidents. That’s over 100 people every day now reportedly injured after falling from height!
- Up to 688,000 working days were lost through non-fatal falls from height in Great Britain in 2023/24 alone (down 30% from 992,000 in 2022/23)
- Cost of non-fatal falls from height estimated to be up to £850 million, made up of costs to the employer and the individual, government tax losses and benefit payments (up 10% from £770 million in 2022/23).
