Falls from height caused 31 worker deaths in Great Britain in 2025/26, around a quarter of the 126 work-related fatalities recorded in the year, according to figures published by the Health and Safety Executive.
Construction recorded 25 deaths, the highest of any industry, followed by agriculture, forestry and fishing with 22.
Excluding the pandemic years of 2019/20 to 2021/22, the 2025/26 total is provisionally the lowest recorded in a single year. It compares with 217 deaths in 2005/06 and 495 in 1981.
Falls from height has again come out as the most common cause of fatal injury, a position it has held consistently in previous releases.
HSE chief executive Sarah Albon said each figure represented a loved one lost, and described the statistics as a reminder of the importance of the regulator’s work.
Alongside the annual figures, HSE published new analysis comparing fatal injury rates in Great Britain with 35 other countries. It is the first time the results can be set against countries outside Europe. HSE said the analysis supports Great Britain’s position as one of the safest places in the world to work.
The regulator cautioned that the international findings are based on statistical models rather than direct comparisons, and should be treated as estimates. It said they should not be used to rank countries, and that other countries should only be compared against Great Britain, not against each other.
Agriculture, forestry and fishing continues to record the highest rate of fatal injury at 8.09 per 100,000 workers, followed by waste and recycling at 5.47. The average across all industries is 0.37.
Workers aged 60 and over accounted for 40 deaths, around a third of the total, despite making up 12 per cent of the workforce.
A further 104 people who were not at work were killed in work-related incidents during the year.
Responding to the figures, NASC head of technical Mark Collinson said falls from height continue to be the leading cause of workplace fatalities year after year, and that this should shape how work at height is planned, managed, supervised and carried out. He said the scaffolding sector had made real progress but there was no room for complacency.
The figures cover work-related accidents and exclude deaths from occupational disease. HSE also published separate mesothelioma figures showing 2,146 deaths in Great Britain in 2024, down 109 on the previous year.
