The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has revealed that the number of workplace fatalities recorded in the construction industry fell in the last year.
The construction industry is widely believed to be one of the most dangerous to work in, with injury and fatality rates tending to be far above those of any other industry. These rates have also prompted campaigners to push for more in-depth health and safety training for construction workers, as well as more in-depth risk assessments to be carried out on sites.
However, the HSE figures show that conditions for construction workers seem to be improving. In 2011-2012, a total of 48 construction-related deaths were recorded, whereas between April 2013 and March 2013, this had fallen to 39.
Overall, the fatality rate for the industry is at 1.9 deaths per 100,000 workers. Although significant improvements have been made, this rate continues to be a lot higher than the fatality rate in all other industries. Giving his view on what needs to be done to reduce this rate even further, Richard Evens from St John Ambulance said:
“If UK employers want to continue reducing the impact of these tragic workplace incidents, it is essential that they provide basic first aid training and equipment for their employees, so that they can act in an emergency,”