New research by ground protection specialist, Timbermat, has revealed the construction industry consistently sees the most fatal injuries at work in the UK.

Timbermat collected data from 2015/16 to 2019/20 to establish just who the UK’s most at-risk workers are and discovered your average construction worker is at a much greater risk than any other worker in the country.

Over the time-frame analysed, 176 UK construction workers died as a result of an accident at work, with a massive 20,207 more reporting suffering a non-fatal injury during that time – an average of 382 employees for every 100,000 each year.

This means that on average, 1,684 construction workers suffer an injury every month, while three workers suffer a fatal injury. Perhaps most concerningly, this doesn’t seem to be improving with time. While 16-17 saw the lowest number of deaths over the course of a year, with just 28 fatal injuries occurring on construction sites, 19-20 had seen this rise to 37 people.

Injuries on sites has improved, however, with 18-19 seeing 366 non-fatal injuries per 100,000 workers compared to 403 per 100,000 in 15-16.

Overall, the analysis showed that while construction workers make up just 7.2% of the UK workforce, the industry results in 28.43% of the nation’s fatal accidents at work, with 22.78% of deaths being caused by falls from height. As winter arrives and sites get increasingly dangerous, it’s more important than ever to remember just how easy it is to slip, and just how vital proper PPE use is in helping avoid these tragedies.

Source and more information: https://www.timbermat.co.uk/news/at-risk-uk-employees/