As outlined below, the six fatalities is the highest number since 2017/18, and reverses four years of decline.
The data covers the period between April 2022 to March 2023,
The figures relate to work-related accidents and do not include deaths arising from occupational diseases or diseases arising from “certain occupational exposures”.
Between 2017/18 and 2021/22, the waste sector recorded an average of five fatal injuries per year, representing 4.08 fatal injuries per 100,000 workers. In 2022/23 the average rate of fatal injuries per a 100,000 workers was 5.02.
In a report published alongside the data, the HSE said: “The waste and recycling sector has an elevated rate of fatal injury [between 2017/18 and 2022/23] compared to the average across all industries: 10 times as high.
Overall
The data shows 135 people across all sectors were killed at work in 2022/23, 12 more than in 2021/22.
The three most common causes of fatal injuries continue to be falling from height (40), being struck by a moving vehicle (20) and being struck by a moving object (29).
The industries with the highest deaths were construction (45), agriculture, forestry, and fishing (21) and manufacturing (15).
A further 68 members of the public were killed following a work-related accident in 2022/23.
The report said: “Fatal injuries are thankfully rare events. There is a degree of chance and randomness to the annual count resulting in an element of natural variation from one year’s count to the next. To allow for this natural variation, alongside figures for2022/23, this report also presents the annual average estimate for the five years2018/19-2022/23, which reduces the effect of year-on-year fluctuations and gives a more stable current picture.
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