Waste sector fatalities fall again

The data for 2019/20, which was published yesterday (4 November), shows that fatalities have dropped for the third consecutive year.

The main causes of fatal injuries to workers in the sector are thought to be collision with moving vehicles, coming into contact with moving machinery or injury by collapsing or overturning objects.

The HSE data shows that the waste and recycling sector remains relatively high-risk compared to other industries, recording 4.57 fatal injuries per 100,000 workers. This is around 18 times as high as the average across all industries.

Only forestry and logging had a greater high risk of injury, at 7.23 fatal injuries per 100,000 workers.

Total

The HSE recorded a total of 111 fatal injuries at work across all injuries in 2019/20, and it is thought the main cause is “falling from a height”. This is down from 147 last year.

At a rate of 0.52 deaths per 100,000 workers, the UK’s fatal injury rate is one of the best in Europe, according to the HSE.

France recorded a rate of 3.0, Spain recorded 1.7 and the EU average, including the UK, is 1.18.

Challenge

In response to the report, Sarah Newton, HSE Chair said: “Although Great Britain continues to be up there with the safest places in the world to work, these figures highlight the scale of the challenge HSE currently faces in making Britain an even healthier and safer place to work, this includes our role in the response to the pandemic to ensure workplaces are Covid Secure.

“We must continue to drive home the importance of managing risk and promoting behaviours to ensure employers work right so that workers are able to go home healthy and safe at the end of each day.”