GUEST ARTICLE: Health and Safety at Work Day; workplace injuries by industry and type

It is vital for a company to do everything in its power in order to avoid workplace accidents and injuries. In failing to protect their workers, businesses can cause a great deal of pain and distress to affected employees and their families, explain CE Safety in this article.

As Health and Safety at Work Day is approaching (28th of April), the health and safety training provider analysed data collected by the UK’s Health and Safety Executive under RIDDOR (the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations) between the financial years 2014/15 and 2018/19.

According to HSE statistics, the combined fields of public administration and defence, compulsory social security, education, human health and social work activities sees the highest number of non-fatal workplace injuries of all kinds, with 20,961 reported.

The industry with the second highest number of injuries is manufacturing. This field sees 12,151 injuries reported.

Next up is another collection of fields – wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles, accommodation and food service activities. These industries combined saw 11,852 injuries in the five years over which the data was collected.

Transportation and storage reported 9,780 cases. There is another significant drop at this point, with the construction industry seeing 4,872 injuries between 14/15 and 18/19.

After summarising the industries in which employees are most likely to experience a workplace injury, we explored the most common types of injury across all fields.

The most likely injury in any industry is one caused by a slip, trip or fall on the same level. 20,022 cases of this kind were recorded in the five years covered by the HSE’s data.

Handling, lifting or carrying injuries are numbering 13,940. Injuries caused by an individual being struck by a moving, flying or falling object are the next most common, numbering at 7,089.

Following this are injuries caused by acts of violence towards or between employees. This saw 5,422 injuries over the reporting period.

Falls from a height are very close behind in number, with 5,296 injuries of this kind reported. 

Gary Ellis, at CE Safety, commented: “Through the implementation of proper health and safety measures, the acquisition and use of correct protective equipment and the provision of thorough training to all relevant employees, businesses can avoid dangerous accidents and keep their workers safe.”