Scaffolding can provide protected access for work at height when it is properly designed, erected, inspected and used. Poor foundations, missing protection, altered components or excessive loads can expose workers and the public to serious harm. The latest NASC report provides evidence about its contractor members; HSE guidance explains the precautions required on each site.
Reviewed 15 October 2026. NASC figures cover contractor-member operatives in calendar 2025, published in its 2026 report. They are not a census of every UK scaffolding accident.
Key facts & figures
- 82 reportable operative accidents among NASC contractor members in 2025.
- 0 operative fatalities in the 2025 NASC member returns.
- 332 contractor members covered, employing 20,168 operatives.
- 17 operative falls from height in 2025.
- 4.07 accidents per 1,000 operatives: NASC’s 2025 incidence rate.
- 0.21 accidents per 100,000 working hours: NASC’s 2025 frequency rate.
The NASC safety data
The NASC Safety Report 2026 records 28 specified injuries and 54 over-seven-day injuries to member operatives in 2025. It covers contractor-member returns, rather than all scaffold users or all UK firms.
The 82 accidents compare with 73 in 2024. Rates also rose, from 3.75 to 4.07 per 1,000 operatives and from 0.20 to 0.21 per 100,000 hours. These changes should be read alongside the workforce covered.
The 2026 report: scope and rate definitions
NASC uses calendar years. HSE’s main national injury releases use April–March years, so a direct comparison requires care.
The member series cannot establish the accident rate of non-members or demonstrate that membership alone causes a difference in safety outcomes.
| NASC operative measure (2025) | Figure |
|---|---|
| Contractor members | 332 |
| Reportable operative accidents | 82 |
| Specified injuries | 28 |
| Over-seven-day injuries | 54 |
| Operative fatalities | 0 |
| Falls from height | 17 |
| Slips and trips | 25 |
| Frequency rate per 100,000 hours | 0.21 |
| Incidence rate per 1,000 operatives | 4.07 |
Scaffolding accident causes and controls
Slips and trips, handling tasks and height work all need attention. Member incident data is useful for identifying hazards, but should not be turned into an industry-wide claim that a fixed percentage of all scaffold accidents has one cause.
Erection and dismantling: use a planned method that establishes collective protection and minimises exposure while components are installed or removed.
Completed platforms: maintain suitable boarding, guardrails, toe boards and safe access. Control alterations and loading points.
Stability: check foundations, ties, design loads and wind loading. Sheeting or netting can change those loads and must be included in the design.
Slips and trips: keep access and platforms clear and assess weather, contamination and ground conditions.
Manual handling: plan the movement of tubes, boards and fittings, using suitable aids and work organisation to reduce strain and dropped-material risks.
Legal requirements for scaffold safety
In Great Britain, scaffold safety is governed by work-at-height and construction duties. The requirements depend on the structure and work being carried out.
Design: use a recognised standard configuration or appropriate strength and stability calculations. A scaffold outside the standard configuration needs suitable design by a competent person.
Competence: erection, alteration and dismantling need trained, competent people under competent supervision. CISRS is an established route to demonstrating relevant competence, but a card alone does not assess every task.
Inspection: construction platforms from which a person could fall 2 metres or more require inspection before use and at intervals no longer than 7 days, with further inspection after events liable to affect safety. A competent person must make the required report.
Tags: a tag system can communicate inspection status, but tags are not themselves a legal requirement and do not replace inspection reports.
Prosecution cases
An HSE case published in July 2026 illustrates why design, wind loading and public protection matter:
- Add Prop Limited was fined £20,000 after an incorrectly assembled, sheeted tower scaffold overturned onto two members of the public on Putney High Street. The incident occurred in July 2023.
- Director Atif Riaz was fined £1,730. The company offence concerned temporary-structure stability under CDM 2015; the director was convicted under section 37 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act. These were not national accident totals.
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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.