Worrying increase in workplace deaths in Scotland
The Health and Safety Executive’s latest work-related fatality statistics reveal that 26 people died in Scotland due to workplace accidents in 2024/25, an increase of 8 compared with the 18 deaths reported in the previous year. In Great Britain as a whole 124 workers were killed in work-related incidents in 2024/25, a decrease of 14 from the year before. The industries with the highest number of deaths were construction, agriculture, forestry and fishing, and transportation and storage. The most common cause of fatal injuries continues to be falls from a height, followed by being struck by a moving object and being trapped by something collapsing or overturning. The HSE also reported 2,218 mesothelioma deaths in 2023 through past exposure to asbestos.
Julie Harris, head of Allan McDougall Solicitors’ personal injury team, commented: “These numbers are very worrying. Unfortunately it’s too common for shortcuts to be taken on workplace safety, particularly when businesses are feeling financial pressure, or simply putting profit before their employees’ wellbeing. Alarmingly, I hear the term ‘health and safety’ banded about as something negative, as some rather irritating restriction. On the contrary, it is absolutely paramount. No one should ever go to work and suffer needless injury or death. In an era when heavy industry is declining, it is even more concerning to see that Scottish workplace deaths are rising.
Risk assessments and training need to be taken more seriously by employers. In having acting for thousands of people injured at work, most cases are down to risk assessments and training having been hasty tick box exercises, whereas when carried out properly, these things prevent injury and save lives.”
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