According to research, the number of accidental deaths in the UK has reached a record high. They are now the second leading cause of death for people under the age 40.
The good news is, the study by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents concluded that people are significantly safer in the workplace than at home.
RoSPA noted that, despite the positives, accidents can happen at work or off-site. In 2022/23 in the UK, 7.7 millions working days will be lost by people who are unable to return to work because they have been hospitalized, or their caregivers who take time off to care for them.
RoSPA’s report Safer Lives, stronger Nation argues that the number of accidents deaths in Britain has risen by 42% over the past decade. Accidents claim over 20,000 lives every year. This is more than London’s O2 Arena can hold.
RoSPA says that in addition to the tragedy of human losses, preventable accidents also cost the UK 12bn pounds sterling every year due to lost working days, medical costs and other expenses.
Since 2013, the number of accidental deaths has increased in England (up 40%), Scotland (up 57%), Wales (up 41%), and Northern Ireland (56%).
According to the study, accidents are the second leading cause of death for people under 40 years old (after intentional injury) and also the main cause of preventable deaths among children under 15 years old.
Accident-related hospitalizations for serious injuries in England have increased by 48% over the past two decades.
In 2022/23 more than 740,000 people in England were hospitalized because of an accident, which is almost as many people as live in Leeds. This number will rise to over 870,000 in the UK.
Falling was the cause of almost half (46%) (more than 9700) of all accidental deaths in 2022.
Over a quarter of all hospital admissions (26%) were due to poisonings, and 7% because of road traffic accidents or transport-related incidents. Nearly two thirds (61%) all accidents-related hospital admissions were due to falls (almost 450 000 instances).
RoSPA reported that accidents from crushing, hitting, powered hand tools, and machinery (medically known as “exposure to mechanical forces”) accounted for over one-tenth (12%) of accident-related admissions. 7% of these were due to a road traffic or transport accident.
The home is a dangerous place to be. More than half of all accidents that result in death occurred at home.
RoSPA found that people are safer at work compared to home.
In England, 7751 people were killed in accidents at home in 2019, while only 149 people died in workplace accidents (0.8%).
Accidents cause personal injury and pain, but also put huge pressure on the NHS. They cost at least PS6bn in NHS medical costs each year, not including ambulance calls, surgery, or long-term treatments.
Last year, the NHS spent an estimated PS4.6bn on accident-related injuries in England. Around 5.2 million UK bed days were attributed to accidents, which cost the NHS PS5.4bn in 2013.
Accidents also resulted in seven million A&E appointments across the UK, which cost a further PS613m. This brings the total cost to the NHS of accidents at least PS6bn per year.
Accidents that cause injuries also drain the economy. They prevent people from going to work. RoSPA estimated that the combined cost of these injuries to UK businesses is PS5,9bn due to lost output and indirect costs of management.
RoSPA reported that in the UK, 7.7 million days of work were lost due to accident-related hospitalizations. This was on top of the 21 million days lost by people who needed to go to A&E following an accident.
The report added that accidents in 2022/23 caused almost 29 million days of lost work in the UK, which is 10 times the number of days lost by strikes (2,7 million days lost) in the same period.
Becky Hickman, RoSPA’s chief executive, said that the society is calling on government to implement a National Accident Prevention Strategy.
The UK is experiencing an accident crisis. Today, we are much more likely than 20 years ago to be involved in a serious accident. She argued that we must act now to prevent further deaths and serious injury. Accidents are avoidable, and they do not have to happen.
Hickman said that even those who never had an accident still suffer, because increasing numbers of accidents choke the UK economy, and overwhelm the NHS, taking up beds, money, and time, which could be used to treat other serious illnesses.
Subscribe to our weekly HR news and guidance
Every Wednesday, receive the Personnel Today Direct newsletter.
