Crane worker fatalities

​FOI Reference: FOI/2022/4429

You asked

I am presently doing a research paper relating to 'A Review of Crane Safety in the UK Construction Industry'.

Could you please provide the following information  detailed below by e mail within 20 working days relating to crane accidents in the UK Construction Industry from 2012 to 2022

1. Statistics of fatal, permanent and temporary disablement per year Male and Female (by age group and profession) in the UK Construction Sector in relation to crane accidents.  
2. The number of crane accidents in the various geographical regions in the United Kingdom per year from 2012-2022 (England -- South East, North West, North East, East Midlands, East of England , South West England, Yorkshire & Humberside, West Midland , Greater London , Scotland , Wales and Northern Ireland.      
3. The number of fatalities and injuries per year from 2012-2022 in the various geographical regions in the United Kingdom. (England -- South East, North West, North East, East Midlands, East of England , South West England, Yorkshire & Humberside, West Midland , Greater London , Scotland , Wales and Northern Ireland.    
4. The number of crane incidents per year from 2012-2022 not resulting in fatalities or injuries in the various geographical regions in the United Kingdom. (England -- South East, North West, North East, East Midlands, East of England , South West England, Yorkshire & Humberside, West Midland , Greater London , Scotland , Wales and Northern Ireland.        
5. Types of cranes involved in crane accidents per year from 2012- 2022 ( e.g., Crawler Cranes , Mobile Cranes, Tower Cranes , Truck Cranes)
6. Types of cranes involved in crane accidents resulting in fatalities and injuries per year from 2012 - 2022 ( e.g., Crawler Cranes , Mobile Cranes, Tower Cranes , Truck Cranes)
7. Crane accidents designated by type of incident per year from 2012-2022 (e.g., struck by objects, falling, electrocution, struck by crane, crane toppled or overturned or other)  , please refer to table below for guidance .

8. Factors that contributed to crane accidents in the United Kingdom per year from 2012- 2022 (e.g.  human, environmental, structural failure , safety management and site conditions)

We said

Thank you for your enquiry.

Unfortunately, we do not hold statistics relating to accidents or injuries within the Construction industry, the Health and Safety Executive would be better placed to answer your enquiry. Whilst ONS do hold mortality data, we do not publish by specific industry and our data is reliant on what is recorded on the death certificate, whereas the Health and Safety executive publish based accident reports and subsequent investigations.

They publish Construction statistics in Great Britain, 2021 (hse.gov.uk) on annual basis.

To make an FOI request with the HSE, please contact your regional HSE Office.

We do hold data relating to death registrations by occupation, however this would not confirm that the death occurred at a construction site. This would merely show the deceased was a construction worker or involved in the construction trade.

Data on occupation is coded using the Standard Occupation Classification (SOC 2010). In all, there are 9 major groups of occupations (for example, skilled trades occupations); 25 sub-major groups (for example, skilled construction and building trades); 90 minor groups (for example, building finishing trades); and more than 350 individual occupations (for example, painters and decorators).

We do not hold data on the specific type of crane involved in the accident, the safety management procedures on site or other external factors involved in the incident, as this information will not be recorded on the death certificate.

We can produce custom data sets looking at ICD-10 codes with specific location codes. Mortality statistics are compiled using the information provided on the death certificate. Cause of death is coded using the International Classification of Diseases (ICD). There are numerous ICD-10 codes for accidents ranging from V01 to X59.

You can request data from 2013-2021 from our NOMIS webservice for deaths involving accidents but unfortunately, NOMIS does not hold data on deaths by place of occurrence which would include the workplace.

We may be able to create a custom output using a 4-digit ICD-10 code which would provide deaths where the underlying cause was an external cause or accidental injury by place of accident. We cannot identify all workplaces; we can only provide by the provided areas below:

1.     Residential institution

2.     School, other institution or public administrative area

3.     Sports and athletics area

4.     Street or highway

5.     Trade and service area

6.     Industrial and construction area

7.     Farm

8.     Other specified places

9.     Unspecified place

10. Mine or quarry

11. Public Building

Custom data sets and special tabulations of mortality data are subject to disclosure control, legal frameworks, resources, and agreement to costs under the ONS charging policy.

If you would like to obtain a quote for this work, please contact the HALE customer services team on Health.Data@ons.gov.uk.