New statistics from the Health and Safety Executive show that fatal workplace injuries are at an all-time low in England. In light of this important occupational safety achievement, it is crucial that workers and employers continue to work hard to drive these rates down even further.

Overall, the rate of fatal injuries in England has significantly decreased to 0.44 per 100 000 workers in 2013/2014. The previous year, the rate was 0.51 per 100 000 workers. Over the course of the past five years, the average rate was 0.56.

On an international level, England has some of the lowest workplace fatality rates in Europe. According to a comparison report¹ by the Health and Safety Executive, Germany’s rate was 0.81 per 100 000 workers while Spain’s was 1.76 per 100 000. Only Slovakia and Netherlands had lower rates than England with 0.37 and 0.49, respectively. The EU countries with the worst rates were Luxembourg (4.22), Romania (4.61) and Cyprus (5.53).

Richard Jones, head of policy and public affairs at IOSH, states that it should ‘become socially unacceptable to for anyone to be killed by work’. At British Safety Services, we strongly support these sentiments.

“We have to work hard to ensure that work places across England and around the world eliminate fatal occupational injuries altogether,