Fatalities in construction – is your area the most dangerous?

Take a look at the figures and find out which areas are the best and worst for fatalities in construction.

Hopefully I don’t have to explain to you how construction sites can be dangerous places if not treated with appropriate respect and caution. Statistics consistently prove that builders and developers are at a higher risk of work related fatalities than other, non-manual work. This is also the case for occupational sicknesses which you can read about in our article on work related illness. At HBXL we are dedicated to helping builders and developers reduce the dangers on site and therefore reduce incidents, accidents, illness and fatalities in construction.

Fatalities in construction – Total fatalities and sector comparisons.

According to the HSE, construction fatalities remain at the five year average of 43 with around 2 deaths per 100,000 workers. This compares to the UK average rate for all workplace fatalities which is currently at 0.46 per 100,000 *. Obviously we would expect construction to have a higher rate than the average due to the nature of the work but more than four times higher is a shocking statistic and at HBXL we would like to see that figure improve.  This is why we created Health & Safety Xpert.

The software is designed to make it easier for builders and developers to meet health and safety requirements and in turn make construction sites safer places to work. We also keep a close eye on the HSEstatistics to make sure our software is helping to cut down on the most common causes of fatality and injury on site. Read on to find out which areas of the country are the best and worst performing .

Which area has the worst rating for fatalities?

Taking industry wide fatality statistics for 2015-16, Wales had a fatality rating of 0.93 per 100,000 which was 0.33 more than the next highest mortality rate of 0.60 per 100,000 in Scotland with England’s average at 0.42 and the overall average for Great Britain 0.46*. If you take a look at the table you’ll be able to see industry wide the breakdown of fatalities by regions of England. Notably, the worst and best for 2015-16 were Yorkshire & The Humber at 0.58 and the South East at 0.25 respectively. London was a close second best with 0.34 per 100,000.

Whether you’re looking at your area fondly or shamefully, everyone should be feeling that they can do better. Shouldn’t we be aiming for a situation where there are no fatalities in construction at all? Read on to find out common causes of fatalities and injuries and how to prevent them.

Common causes of injuries and fatalities in construction.

Looking at data from RIDDOR**, the most common cause of fatality in construction is still a fall from height with 14 deaths in Great Britain in 2014-15 which was more than half of all work related fatalities in construction for that year. Falls from height also caused a high number of work related injuries with 643 specified injuries recorded in 2014-15. The second highest cause of fatalities in construction was joint between ‘struck by a moving vehicle’ and ‘trapped by something collapsing/ overturning’ which both caused 4 deaths in 2014-15. The highest cause of over-7-day injuries was ‘Injured while handling, lifting or carrying’ with 1,036 cases reported. Health & Safety Xpert can help you tackle these risks head on by providing you with safer systems of work.

Health & Safety Xpert helps ensure site safety

Health & Safety Xpert has been designed to help builders and developers produce all the necessary health and safety documentation for work on site and therefore help improve site safety. Users quickly enter what type of project they are working on and all the required documents are automatically loaded and prepopulated. With minimal additional effort builders add finer details and are ready to print and share easily with staff and clients.

Regular updates keep builders on top of legislation changes

Health & Safety Xpert is regularly updated to help ensure all the documents produced correspond to the latest regulations including CDM 2015. On top of this, regular updates allow us to keep improving the speed of the software and ease of use so that builders can have no excuse for not producing their H&S paperwork!

Get a free trial

See how easy it is with a free trial using fully licenced software for 14 days, a complimentary 1-2-1 demonstration and full access to the highly ratedsupport service. Follow the link to fill in a quick form and get started or give us a call on 0117 9167898.

*https://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/pdf/fatalinjuries.pdf

** Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulationshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/riddor/