Industry on course for fewest-ever site deaths

The construction industry experienced one of its safest years on record in 2024/25, provisional data suggests.

Quarterly figures published by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) show that 19 construction workers died as a result of workplace injuries suffered between April and December 2024.

In the same period in 2023 some 35 workers died, while 36 construction workers died between April and December 2022.

Figures for the final quarter, and the entire 2024/25 year to 31 March, are due to be published by the HSE in late June or early July.

If fatal injuries continued at the same quarterly rate up to April 2025, some 25 construction workers will have died in the year – five fewer than the previous record low of 30, experienced in both 2017/18 and 2018/19.

If confirmed, the improvement stands in stark contrast to the most recent two financial years. In 2023/24, some 51 construction workers died from injuries suffered at work – the highest level since 2008/09.

In 2022/23, 45 workers suffered fatal injuries, which at the time was a seven-year high.

Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) head of advice and practice Duncan Spencer told Construction News: “The reduction of fatalities in this period is very encouraging. However, even one is a traumatic loss and one too many.

“Let’s not be complacent, there’s still much more work to do to keep people safe in construction trades.”

He added that the industry’s significantly high level of suicides and poor mental health also needed to be tackled.

“There is still much more work to be done to save lives,” he said.

HSE figures do not include construction personnel carrying out work on railways.

Deaths in 2024/25 included that of a 61-year-old man who was hit by a truck at a car park construction site in March. Goldbeck Construction was main contractor on the job for the Royal Albert Edward Infirmary.