Manufacturing, which makes up almost a tenth of the whole UK workforce, is facing a growing crisis in workplace safety. The industry is already facing scrutiny, and regulators are pushing for better health and safety measures, yet fatal accidents remain a serious concern.

Manufacturing consistently has higher injury rates than the all-industry average. For the latest period, self-reported survey data showed 1.96% of manufacturing workers per year suffer an injury, versus 1.67% across all industries. This percentage may seem small, but actually equates to an average of 51,000 manufacturing workers injured each year. Metal product manufacturing, in particular, has a high injury rate of 3.7% of workers a year, more than double the manufacturing-sector average.

With a clear growing concern for workplace health and safety in the manufacturing sector, Health and Safety Expert Josh McNicholas from Evalu-8 EHS shares how employers can adopt better health and safety measures in a simple but effective manner.

Leading causes:

Non-fatal injuries in manufacturing are largely caused by things like slips, trips, falls, handling, lifting and carrying. Across all industries in 2022-2023, slips and trips made up 32% of employer-reported non-fatal injuries, while handling injuries made up 17%. These are trends that are reflected in manufacturing workplaces as well. Each year, about 3,400 per 100,000 manufacturing workers report ill health they believe is work-caused, with injuries ranging from musculoskeletal disorders to lung diseases.

Fatal injuries:

In 2023/24, 16 workers lost their lives in the manufacturing sector. Manufacturing accounted for roughly 11 to 12 per cent of all workplace deaths in the UK, making it the third most hazardous sector in terms of fatalities, just behind construction and agriculture. These concerning figures highlight that manufacturing environments, with heavy machinery, vehicles, and complex processes, pose elevated fatal risks.

Mental Health and Safety:

In 2023-2024, approximately 1.7 million workers across the UK suffered from a work-related illness (new or longstanding), with stress, depression or anxiety cases accounting for about half of these. When workers are mentally exhausted or overwhelmed, their ability to follow safety procedures diminishes, leading to increased mistakes, reduced communication, and an overall decline in safety.

To improve these figures and prevent the rising increase of injuries, employers can adopt the following processes:

  1. Real-time injury reporting: As manufacturing processes become faster and more complex, traditional reporting systems, which often rely on delayed or paper-based documentation, are no longer sufficient to protect workers in dynamic industrial settings.

  2. Identify recurring hazards: Having a technology-based system, where you can easily see trends, means business owners can implement new safety measures for staff much faster than before.

  3. Continuous risk assessments: Identify potential hazards before they lead to injuries. If the industry wants to see a steadier decline in injuries, employers must improve worker safety and support better regulatory compliance.

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