In the UK, we are fortunate to have some of the strictest health and safety laws around the world which has given us a strong track record in reducing the overall number of accidents which happen in workplaces. As we work in the access platform hire industry, at Horizon Platforms, health and safety is our number one priority. So, we wanted to look at the impact that changes to health and safety regulation has had on the number of reported injuries and accidents across sectors.
What Major Changes Have Impacted Health and Safety at Work?
The Health and Safety at Work Act was introduced in 1974 and has been transformative to how we view health and safety at work across the UK. The Act ensures employers take responsibility for workplace environment and rules, also that workers are responsible for their own actions and the impact it may have on colleagues’ safety. Before this was implemented there was much less onus on businesses for liability for health and safety practice.
Since the 1974 HSWA was implemented, other laws have followed to update rules and requirements of workers and employers. More recent health and safety laws include The Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992, Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992, The Work at Height Regulations 2005 and The Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 (amended 2002). Subsequent laws have gone further to improve safety to workers and taken into account technological advancements which may improve or impact health and safety differently.
Read our health and safety blogs to read more about the impact of these regulations.
How Have New Laws Impacted Statistics?
According to Statista, there were 651 fatal accidents in workplaces the year the HSWA received royal assent. This figure has dropped 79% to 135 in the most recent data from 2023, proving the effectiveness the laws have had on reducing fatal injuries.
Looking at workplace sickness caused by work, there seems to be a rise in the number of sick days employers are taking post-pandemic. In 2022/23, there were approximately 35.2 million working days lost in Great Britain due to work-related injury or illness, compared to 28.1million in 2018/2019. This is starting to decrease year-on-year but is still substantially up versus pre-pandemic years data.
Long-lasting Impact of Past Health and Safety Gaps
Unfortunately for many workers, the health risks of asbestos were not fully recognised until the late 1990s. Concern around the impact of asbestos dust being linked to worker illness dates back to 1932, when the first Asbestos Industry Regulations came into force. Sadly, more wasn’t done to reduce risk in a significant way until much later. 1969 saw a new Asbestos Regulations act enforced, putting in place stricter rules to protect those working with asbestos. 1999 saw stricter regulations banning more types of asbestos, with further laws enacted to look at compensating those impacted by asbestos and making work linked to asbestos very tightly regulated for worker safety. Through widespread awareness and tighter health and safety laws, new cases of asbestos are not as high as they once were.
Sadly, asbestos still kills around 5,000 workers each year. Many cases are linked to past exposure which can date back years, although there are still reported cases of new exposure related illnesses. This can occur when workers handle materials they are unaware contain asbestos and fail to take necessary precautions. Mesothelioma, a form of cancer, is the most prevalent illness caused by this exposure and cases have been rising over most years of the 2000s. There were around 2,400 cases of mesothelioma and asbestosis deaths and cases assessed for IIDB in Great Britain in the 2022/2023 period.
Injury Versus Sickness Statistics
Reasons for absence from work due to injury is low in 2024, HSE data shows the primary reason for work absence in recent data from 2022/2023 to be stress, anxiety or depression. These mental health illnesses accounted for 49% of new and long-standing cases of work-related ill health by type. In the 1990s there were less than 1,000 self-reported cases of stress, anxiety or depression accounting for workplace sickness, compared against over 2,500 cases per 100,000 people in 2022/2023. The estimated working days lost per worker due to self-reported work related illness or injury across all categories has dropped in the past 20 years, dropping from an average of 1.8 days lost per 100,000 workers to 1.4 days lost.
Looking at injuries compared to mental health self-reported instances, injuries have seen a steady downward trend since before the pandemic and haven’t been rising in recent years overall. The rate of non-fatal injuries in 2022/2023 was around 1,750 instances per 100,000 workers, down from a rate of 4,000 instances per 100,000 workers in the year 2000. According to HSE, falls from height made up the largest percentage of fatal injuries at work, at 27% of all injuries from 2018 – 2023, slips and trips were the biggest cause of non-fatal injury at 32%.
Work-related Illnesses Seeing a Decline
Musculoskeletal Disorders
Looking at workplace injury-related illnesses that have seen a drop since the HSWA was introduced, there are several which correlate to lower numbers in recent decades. Musculoskeletal disorders have dropped since the 1990s, the highest rate of instances being recorded in 1994 at a rate of 3,600 per 100,000 workers. While musculoskeletal disorders account for a quarter of all injuries in the last year of data from 2022/2023, this is a drop from the 1990s. 2022/2023 saw a rate of 1,400 cases per 100,000 workers.
Silicosis
Silicosis
Silicosis, a chronic lung condition, is caused by inhaling crystalline silica dust over a period of years. It is commonly found amongst workers in industries like: construction, stone masonry, mining, sand blasting or pottery manufacturing. Since data has been recorded from 1974, there has been a steady decline in the number of deaths and work-related cases recorded. Numbers in recent years are half of what they were in the 1970s.
How Has Reporting of Accidents Changed in Workplaces?
The way in which incidents are reported in workplaces has made a significant difference to awareness and action being taken to reduce cases of worker injury. The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) first came into force in 1986, updated in 1995 and again in 2013. If someone dies or is injured because of a workplace accident, it is a legal requirement that this is reported to RIDDOR. Accidents don’t all necessarily need to be reported to RIDDOR, only if they are work related or resulted in a reportable injury. RIDDOR guidelines outline what must be reported by law.
Summary
It is clear that changes to laws have helped Great Britain retain a good record of health and safety versus other countries, but there is always a responsibility of both employers and employees to follow guidelines, use recommended PPE and keep staff knowledge up to date to keep up with changes to the law.
Unfortunately, there will always be health risks from working at height. Therefore, at Horizon, we work hard to deliver the best powered access hire service and expertise, so people working at height can do so as safely and effectively as possible. Part of which means delivering industry leading MEWP operator and health and safety training.
Contact our team today for reliable scissor lift and cherry picker rental with 98% trouble free hire days and training courses delivered by a team with 96% high pass rate.