Hazardous area equipment and other safety precautions have helped British workers to record their lowest-ever number of fatalities in the past year.
Newly published HSE figures show that between April 2013 and March 2014, there were 133 fatalities, down from 150 in the previous 12 months.
This takes the fatality rate to 0.44 per 100,000 British workers, down from 0.51 per 100,000 in 2012-13, and the HSE says this is the lowest on record in the UK.
HSE chair Judith Hackitt said: “Whilst these are only provisional figures, they confirm Britain’s performance in health and safety as world class.
“For the last eight years we have consistently recorded one of the lowest rates of fatal injuries to workers among the leading industrial nations in Europe.”
Mike Penning, minister of state for health and safety, added that the statistics are an indication that UK workplaces are getting safer.
Hazardous area equipment is just one of the technologies that may be helping to guide this progression, with new products allowing workplace managers and safety officers to tackle new threats with each passing year.
