Too many people are being killed at work after falling from height. It’s time for change.
We need to reduce the number of workers who are being killed or injured at work due to a fall from height. Most falls from height are avoidable, but only if we can understand what’s causing them in the first place.
We’re calling for simplified reporting of accidents so that we can identify and address the root causes of falls from height and save lives.
According to the latest Health and Safety Executive (HSE) work-related fatal injury statistics which were released on 3 July 2024:
- Falls from height remain the leading cause of workplace fatalities and injuries in Great Britain.
- In 2023/24 alone, 50 people died at work due to a fall from height – up 22% from 2022/23 when 41 people died. This is the highest number of fatal falls from height since 2007/08 when 58 people lost their lives.
- In 2023/24, falls from height accounted for 36% of all workplace fatalities (up from 25% in 2021/22 and 30% in 2022/23).
- In 2023/24, there was a 44% increase in fall from height fatalities for the self-employed (18 deaths in 2022/23 rising to 26 deaths in 2023/24).
- Latest non-fatal injury figures from 2022/23, show over 5,000 people were reported injured at work last year after falling from height – but many accidents go unreported so that figure is significantly higher in reality.
- The number of workers killed has increased, and the number of reported injuries shows little improvement.
- In the last 10 years, 369 people died (enough to fill a jumbo jet) and over 53,000 were injured (enough to fill a football stadium).
We have one clear ask of the next Government: introduce a simple, more effective system of accident reporting so that we can identify and tackle the root causes of falls from height to save workers’ lives.
Read the Access Industry Forum and No Falls Foundation Manifesto (June 2024) >>
Please note: The AIF Manifesto was drafted and distributed before the release of the latest Health and Safety Executive work-related fatal injury statistics on 3 July 2024. Our manifesto therefore refers to the statistics available to us at the time of writing, which were for work-related fatal and non-fatal injuries in 2022/23.
