No Falls Week

May 15th 2024

Every year an estimated 10 million workers carry out some form of work from height and in the vast majority of cases they do so safely.

However, any accident that causes death or injury is one too many and latest figures show that falls from height remain the greatest cause of death on British worksites.

At Eton Environmental Group we are committed to helping industry reduce that figure and that’s why we will be supporting No Falls Week a powerful campaign dedicated to promoting safe working at height.

Run by the No Falls Foundation charity, No Falls Week runs between 13 and 17 May and aims to raise awareness about the importance of safe working at height, prevent falls and ensure everyone that works at height comes down safely.

Falls from height are consistently the leading cause of workplace fatalities in the UK, with 40 people losing their lives at work due to a fall from height in 2022-2023. Latest figures from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) show that falls from height were responsible for a third of all workplace deaths last year, up from a quarter the year before.

As awful as the fatality statistics are, there are an even greater number of non-fatal injuries resulting from a fall from height, with over 5,000 people in Great Britain having been reported injured at work in 2022/23.

Along with the lives, families and businesses affected by these accidents, up to 992,000 working days were lost through non-fatal falls from height in Great Britain in 2022/23 alone. The total cost of falls from height last year was estimated to be over £847 million, made up of costs to the employer and the individual, government tax losses and benefit payments.

The No Falls Foundation has provided a wide range of resources and guides offering advice on maintaining workplace safety and also to help employers understand their responsibilities in law.

These can be found at https://nofallsweek.org/resources/

Work carried out by Eton in areas including asbestos, fire risk management and environmental cleaning and decontamination can involve working from height and we hold a number of accreditations which demonstrate our belief in maintaining the highest standards of health, safety and quality assurance. These include: ISO 45001:2018 the Occupational Health and Safety Standard, Safe Contractor approved, Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (Rospa), Smas Worksafe and MSL Safe partner.

We are also members of the British Safety Council and other industry recognised bodies dedicated to workplace safety.

Full details of these and our other industry recognised safety accreditations can be found here.