Lawyer’s safety warning as more UK workers die

A leading workplace injury lawyer says at-work fatality rates remain far too high as the latest Government figures are published. The Health and Safety Executive’s workplace fatality figures have revealed 151 people died at work in the UK between April 2009 and March 2010. And David Urpeth, Irwin Mitchell’s national head of workplace injuries, said the figure was far too high – particularly in heavy industries such as construction and agriculture. Despite new figures demonstrating a decrease of 15 per cent on the previous year’s total of 178, down on the previous five-year average of 220, Urpeth said much more work was needed to prevent further lives from being torn apart by deaths at work. He added: “The figures are undeniably heading in the right direction and is a reflection of UK-wide improvements to health and safety practices in the workplace. “However, we should be talking about people’s lives, not statistics – rather than admiring the fact that 27 fewer people died at work, we should be asking why 151 lives were lost and why so many families were torn apart last year. “The figures show that there is still much work to be done in this area, especially in industries such as agriculture and construction, which represented the largest proportion of deaths, with 38 and 41 deaths respectively.” The full Health and Safety Executive statistics can be seen at http://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/fatalinjuries.htm or visit www.irwinmitchell.com

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