The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has published its provisional work-related fatal injury statistics for Great Britain for 2025/26. They raise a question for HSE managers, HR directors and business leaders: how should a low and steady headline figure be read when every one of those deaths is one too many? C2D Prévention – CSI looks at what lies behind the numbers, with the CAP Method and the safety assessment.
In 2025/26,
the HSE recorded 126 workers fatally injured in Great Britain, against 128 in 2024/25. The fatal injury rate was 0.37 per 100,000 workers, against 0.38 the year before.
What do the HSE’s 2025/26 statistics say about workplace fatalities ?
The HSE’s provisional figures show 126 workers fatally injured in Great Britain in 2025/26. The data come from reports made under RIDDOR, the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations. The figures remain provisional and are due to be finalised in July 2027.
The 2024/25 count stands at 128 in the final, revised figures. It had first been reported as 124, a reminder that a provisional count can move by several units once the data are finalised. The HSE also reports 104 members of the public killed in work-related accidents in 2025/26, counted separately from workers and excluding certain deaths of patients and service users in healthcare and adult social care in England.
Our article on the real cost of a workplace accident complements this reading from the company’s side.
| How should you read a steady figure?
The HSE considers the rate of fatal injury per 100,000 workers the preferable measure for comparing years, because the number of workers changes. On that measure, 2025/26 is close to 2024/25 (0.37 against 0.38). Over the long term the HSE describes a downward trend, although the decline has slowed in recent years. A difference of two deaths from one year to the next is not a trend, and a low year is not proof that risks are under control: the figure counts deaths, not the near misses and serious injuries that precede them.
What lies behind these deaths: kinds of accident, industries and age ?
Falls from height remain the leading kind of fatal accident, with 31 deaths in 2025/26. They are followed by being struck by a moving vehicle (24), being struck by a moving object (21), being trapped by something collapsing or overturning (18) and contact with moving machinery (10).
By industry, construction recorded 25 deaths, agriculture, forestry and fishing 22, manufacturing 18, and transportation and storage 15. Age is the other striking pattern: 40 of the 126 workers killed were aged 60 or over, around 32% of deaths, while workers in that age group make up about 12% of the workforce. The fatal injury rate for workers aged 60 to 64 is about twice the all-age rate, and about four times higher for those aged 65 and over.
These are situations in which everyday practice makes the difference: how work at height is prepared, how vehicle and pedestrian movements are separated, how a newcomer or a temporary worker is welcomed and supervised, and how closely managers stay in touch with real work. Two of our articles address these questions: safety induction for temporary workers and the role of frontline management.
Would you like to review the prevention of serious accidents in your organisation? Talk to the C2D Prévention team about your sites and your priorities.
What does a safety culture approach change in light of these findings?
A safety culture approach adds to the monitoring of injury rates indicators that show how well the organisation controls risk before an accident happens. This is the principle of the final phase of C2D Prévention’s CAP Method, which has four phases: Comprehend, Architect, Produce the Infusion and Stay on Course. The method explores the human, organisational and technical dimensions of health and safety culture.
| Which indicators should you track alongside the rate ?
The HSE figures point to indicators that complement the injury rate: the quality of induction and support for newcomers, managers’ presence in the field, the ability to talk openly about real work and the gaps between procedure and practice, and the way high-risk activities such as work at height and vehicle movements are actually carried out on site. The safety assessment gives a snapshot of these practices at a given moment, and our Safety Day workshops let teams work on them in practical situations.
To conclude, a steady fatality figure does not describe how close organisations come to serious accidents. The 126 deaths recorded in 2025/26 invite a reading of the headline number alongside the kinds of accident, the industries and the age profiles behind it. For an organisation, this means complementing injury monitoring with knowledge of real work, management practices and the control of the highest-risk activities. C2D Prévention offers a safety assessment, the CAP Method and workshops adapted to the risks of each site.
Key takeaways
- The HSE recorded 126 workers fatally injured in Great Britain in 2025/26 (provisional), against 128 in 2024/25.
- The fatal injury rate was 0.37 per 100,000 workers, against 0.38: the rate, not the raw count, is the preferable measure for comparing years.
- Falls from height (31), being struck by a moving vehicle (24) and being struck by a moving object (21) were the three leading kinds of fatal accident.
- Construction (25) and agriculture, forestry and fishing (22) recorded the most deaths, and around 32% of the workers killed were aged 60 or over.
- The 2025/26 figures are provisional and are due to be finalised in July 2027.
FAQ
How many workers were fatally injured in Great Britain in 2025/26 ?
The HSE’s provisional figures show 126 workers fatally injured in 2025/26, against 128 in 2024/25 (final, revised figure). The data are based on reports under RIDDOR. In addition, 104 members of the public were killed in work-related accidents, counted separately from workers.
What is the fatal injury rate ?
It is the number of fatal injuries to workers per 100,000 workers. It was 0.37 in 2025/26 and 0.38 in 2024/25. The HSE regards it as preferable to the raw count for comparing years, because it takes account of changes in the size of the workforce.
Where can you find the detailed 2025/26 figures ?
The HSE publishes them on its statistics pages under “Work-related fatal injuries in Great Britain”, with breakdowns by kind of accident, industry and age. The 2025/26 figures are provisional and will be finalised in July 2027.
Further reading
the role of field managers in turning procedures into safe behaviour.
the first day as the first act of a safety culture.
the visible and hidden costs of a workplace accident.
See also
C2D Prévention’s four-phase approach, from diagnosis to continuous infusion.
a snapshot, at a given moment, of behaviours and practices in risk prevention.
workshops and talks tailored to your safety days and weeks.
Would you like to review your safety indicators in light of these figures? Contact C2D Prévention to discuss your prevention needs.
Sources
Health and Safety Executive. (2026). Work-related fatal injuries in Great Britain, 2025/26 (provisional). https://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/fatals-overview.htm
Keyostas. Workplace deaths in Britain 2025/26: HSE figures analysed (secondary source quoting HSE RIDFATAL and RIDHIST tables, used for the 2024/25 count, the fatal injury rates and the age share). https://keyostas.co.uk/workplace-deaths-britain-2025-26-analysis/
HCS Safety. Work-related fatal injuries in Great Britain: what the latest HSE statistics tell us (secondary source quoting HSE, used for the industry and age breakdowns). https://hcssafety.co.uk/news/work-related-fatal-injuries-2025-2026/
C2D Prévention. The CAP Method. https://www.c2dprevention.com/en/the-cap-method/
C2D Prévention. Safety assessment. https://www.c2dprevention.com/en/safety-coaching-support/assessment/
C2D Prévention. Safety Day workshops. https://www.c2dprevention.com/en/workshops-3/