Legislation to protect your lone workers and your business

To set the scene let’s consider the latest workplace fatalities and injuries statistics, which firmly put into context the reasons why Health and Safety laws exist.

Workplace fatal injuries 2024

Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) latest report ‘Work-related fatal injuries in Great Britain, 2024’ advises 138 workers were killed in work-related accidents, an increase from 2022/23. 82% of fatal injuries occurred in five industry sectors: Construction; Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing; Manufacturing; Admin and Support services; and Transportation and Storage. The statistics show that the outdoor industries have the highest fatality rates. The Construction sector and the Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing sector come out the worst (74 deaths in total) representing 54% of all workplace fatalities in 2023/24.

36% of fatal injuries to workers were to the self-employed even though such workers only made up around 15% of the workforce. In the Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing sector most fatal injuries were to self-employed workers (65%) which is higher than any other industry.

The main causes of injuries are attributed to falls from a height, struck by a moving vehicle, struck by moving objects, trapped by something collapsing or overturning and contact with moving machinery.

In addition, 87 members of the public were also killed in work-related accidents in 2023/24.

See HSE Report.

Injuries at work key facts 2023/24

HSE’s statistics explain the stark realities of non-fatal injuries at work and the cost to UK businesses:

• 604,000 workers sustained a non-fatal injury
• 61,663 employee non-fatal injuries were reported by employers
• 543,000 workers suffered from a work-related musculoskeletal disorder
• Slips, trips and falls on the same level were the most common accident (31%)
• An average of 8 days taken off work due to a workplace injury*
• £7.1 billion annual costs due to workplace injury (equivalent to unit cost of £2.1m per fatal injury, £12,000 per non-fatal injury)*
  
• An estimated 15,300 workers withdraw permanently from the labour market annually as a result of a workplace injury or work-related ill health. This is an important sub-set of cases since they incur large costs.*

* This year’s estimates for 2022/23 are based on a rolling three-year average of data from the years 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2023/24.

For in depth information read HSE’s report published November 2024: “Costs to Britain of workplace fatalities and self-reported injuries and ill health, 2022/23.”

Duty of care for your workers

As an employer you have responsibility for the health, safety and welfare of all your workers. This means making sure they are protected from anything that may cause harm and you must do whatever is reasonably practicable to achieve this. This includes all employees, contractors and self employed staff who are working for you. Failure to protect those in your care can result in fines and in extreme cases custodial sentences.

READ MORE: Duty of care

Health and Safety Laws

There is not one law concerning health and safety, both criminal and civil law (tort law in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, delict law in Scotland) apply to workplace health and safety.

Three key pieces of criminal legislation you need to comply with are:

• the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974
• the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999
• the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 (in the worst case scenarios)

Protecting your lone workers

HSE provide further specific guidance if you have lone workers. 

As an employer, you must manage any health and safety risks before people can work alone, including contractors and self-employed people. This is because there will always be greater risks for lone workers without direct supervision or anyone to help them if things go wrong.

READ MORE: Lone worker risks