Legal Experts React To Increase Fatalities

Workplace injury lawyers who represent injured victims and the loved ones of those killed at work have demanded that new figures showing an increase in fatalities proves to be “a wake-up call” on the issue.

The new statistics from the Health and Safety Executive have revealed that 142 workers were killed at work in Great Britain across 2014/15, which marked an increase from the previous 12-month period.

It was also revealed that 76,000 other injuries to employees were reported under the RIDDOR scheme, with 611,000 injuries happening at work according to the Labour Force Survey. It is believed more than 27 million working days were lost as a result of injury and illness.

Reacting to the research, Irwin Mitchell’s specialist workplace injury lawyers have called on the HSE to work closely with the government and businesses to ensure that the increase in deaths is quickly addressed and safety standards improve.

Expert Opinion

“It is incredibly worrying to see that the number of people killed at work has risen across the UK and these figures must be a wake-up call on the issue.

“Any number of deaths is simply too many, as all employees should be able to go to and from their jobs every day without facing the risk of injury or worse.

“Our work means we have seen numerous cases when people’s lives have been devastated as a result of safety failings which should have been avoided, whether it is those who are unable to work again as a result of injury or the families of those who have been fatally injured.

“Such consequences can be caused by a range of factors from inadequate training and the necessary equipment not being provided to inadequate supervision.

“We have campaigned for many years for employers to ensure safety is the priority and would urge the HSE, government and business to continue to work together to drive these figures down further. There remains a huge amount of work to be done to improve health and safety in the UK and it is vital that everything possible is done to ensure improvements are made.” Stephen Nye - Partner