Falls from height remain a major cause of fatal workplace injury. The latest HSE figures record 31 worker deaths in Great Britain in 2025/26, provisionally. This guide brings together the fatal, non-fatal and economic evidence while keeping their different coverage and reporting periods clear.
Reviewed 15 October 2026. Fatal figures are provisional for 2025/26; non-fatal RIDDOR figures are provisional for 2024/25. LFS figures below are annual averages for 2022/23–2024/25.
Key facts and figures
- 31 workers died in falls from height in Great Britain in 2025/26 (provisional), around 25% of 126 worker fatalities.
- 37 fatal falls per year on average over 2021/22–2025/26, rounded from 184 deaths across five years.
- 4,684 non-fatal falls from height to employees were reported by employers under RIDDOR in 2024/25 (provisional).
- 35,000 workers were injured in falls from height per year on average, 2022/23–2024/25 (LFS estimate).
- 249,000 working days were lost annually to non-fatal falls, averaged over 2022/23–2024/25 (LFS estimate).
- 28% of worker fatalities over 2021/22–2025/26 were falls from height: 184 out of 651 deaths.
How Great Britain counts falls from height
RIDDOR fatal injuries: HSE counts reportable deaths of employees and self-employed workers. This is a work-related accident series, not a count of all deaths associated with work; work-related road traffic collisions and occupational disease deaths are outside its coverage. Recent figures can be revised.
RIDDOR non-fatal injuries: the employee series includes specified injuries and injuries causing more than seven consecutive days of incapacity. It excludes less serious injuries that do not meet the reporting criteria. Self-employed people can also have reporting duties, but their injuries are outside this particular employee series.
Labour Force Survey: workers report injuries through a household survey, including injuries outside RIDDOR’s reporting thresholds. The latest accident-kind tables pool three years. The 35,000 annual fall-injury estimate has a 95% confidence interval of 26,000–44,000; 44,000 is the upper confidence limit, not a single-year total.
Fatal falls from height: the 2025/26 data
HSE’s July 2026 release recorded 31 fatal falls in 2025/26, compared with 36 in revised 2024/25 data. Falls were the largest accident-kind category in the latest year. Across 2021/22–2025/26, the total was 184, equivalent to an annual average of 36.8.
Of the 31 deaths in 2025/26, 20 were employees and 11 were self-employed workers. This differs from 2024/25, when 23 of the 36 fatal falls involved self-employed workers. These small annual counts should not be used to infer changes in training, supervision or individual behaviour.
Non-fatal falls from height
The 4,684 employee injuries reported for 2024/25 comprised 2,636 specified injuries and 2,048 over-seven-day injuries. Falls accounted for about 8% of all employer-reported non-fatal employee injuries. These figures are provisional.
The LFS estimates an annual average of 35,000 workers injured and 249,000 working days lost through falls from height in 2022/23–2024/25. The days-lost estimate has a wide 95% confidence interval of 81,000–416,000. The survey does not establish that every injured worker had permanent disability or could not return to their occupation.
Industries affected
Construction employers reported 736 non-fatal employee falls from height in 2024/25; transportation and storage reported 702, and manufacturing 663. These are reported counts, not exposure-adjusted risk rankings. Reporting practices and the kinds of work differ between sectors.
For fatal injuries across all accident kinds in 2025/26, construction recorded 25, agriculture, forestry and fishing 22, manufacturing 18, and transportation and storage 15. These industry totals must not be described as fatal falls. The construction report’s earlier 2020/21–2024/25 breakdown attributed 53% of construction fatalities to falls, on its provisional 2024/25 basis.
| Measure: Great Britain | Figure | Period and coverage |
|---|---|---|
| Fatal falls from height | 31 | 2025/26 provisional; workers |
| Average annual fatal falls | 37 | 2021/22–2025/26; rounded |
| Reported non-fatal falls | 4,684 | 2024/25 provisional; employees |
| Workers injured by falls, LFS | 35,000 | Annual average, 2022/23–2024/25 |
| Days lost to falls, LFS | 249,000 | Annual average, 2022/23–2024/25 |
| All workplace injury costs | £6.5bn | Reference year 2023/24; all accident kinds |
The cost of falls from height
The LFS days-lost estimate shows a substantial burden from falls, but it is not a monetary cost estimate. HSE’s Costs to Britain model estimates £6.5 billion for workplace injuries of all kinds and £22.9 billion for injuries and new work-related ill health combined, for reference year 2023/24. These are society-wide costs, including a valuation of harm to people, and cannot be labelled the cost of falls or the bill paid by employers.
For an individual business, a fall can involve absence, disruption, investigation, replacement labour and legal costs. The amount depends on the incident; a national average cannot predict a particular employer’s loss.
Understanding reporting and survey limits
HSE recognises under-reporting of reportable non-fatal injuries. However, subtracting the RIDDOR count from the LFS estimate does not measure unreported statutory incidents: the datasets cover different workers, injury severities and periods.
The latest LFS accident-kind estimates are three-year averages with sampling uncertainty. Comparing their upper confidence limits across releases as if they were annual totals produces misleading trends. Both sources are useful when their definitions are retained.
The legal framework
The Work at Height Regulations 2005 apply in Great Britain where a person could fall a distance liable to cause personal injury. There is no universal two-metre exemption. Work must be properly planned, supervised and undertaken by competent people, using suitable equipment.
- Avoid work at height where reasonably practicable, for example by working from ground level.
- Prevent falls where height work remains necessary, giving collective measures such as guarded platforms priority.
- Minimise the distance and consequences of a remaining fall risk; safety nets and fall-arrest systems serve this purpose.
- Plan safe access, equipment inspection and maintenance, and emergency rescue.
Personal fall restraint can prevent a person reaching an edge; fall arrest limits a fall after it begins. These systems have different purposes and must be selected and used correctly. General awareness training is one part of preparation, not a substitute for task-specific competence or physical safeguards.
Sources & references
- HSE — fatal injuries, 2025/26 provisional and revised earlier years (RIDFATAL)
- HSE — injuries by accident kind and industry, non-fatal data 2024/25 provisional (RIDKIND)
- HSE — self-reported injuries and working days lost by accident kind (LFSINJKND), 2022/23–2024/25 annual averages
- HSE — Construction statistics in Great Britain, 2025
- HSE — Costs to Britain of workplace injuries and ill health, reference year 2023/24
- HSE — RIDDOR reportable incidents
- HSE — introduction to working at height safely
- HSE — work at height step-by-step guide
- Work at Height Regulations 2005, Great Britain
The data is clear: training and competence save lives at height.
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Mark writes about working at height, workplace safety, compliance and accredited training for Working at Heights Course, part of Online CPD Academy.