NASC Unveils 2023 Safety Report
27th June 2023
Earlier this month, NASC (The National Access and Scaffolding Confederation) published its annual safety report containing statistics and analysis based on information from its members. This year’s report was welcomed by the scaffolding industry as it paints a positive picture of improvements in safety standards and a reduction in accidents.
The report revealed that accidents in the industry have fallen to the lowest rate ever recorded. The scaffolding trade body began formally recording accidents back in 1975, demonstrating the significant improvements in health & safety that have taken place over the course of almost 5 decades.
The findings in numbers
- A reduction of 26% in Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) accident rate from NASC contracting members
- The number of incidents fell from 90 in 2021 to 67 in 2022
- The report was based on information from 17,315 scaffolding and access workers
- NASC currently has 240+ contracting members
All NASC contractor members are audited and supplying official accident and injury statistics to the trade body is a condition of their membership. This makes the NASC annual safety report a comprehensive, reliable, and accurate source of data and information on the current situation in the industry.
The findings of the report are particularly encouraging as the drop in incidents has occurred despite an increase of around 10% year on year in the size of the scaffolding workforce in the UK.
The reduction in the percentage of incidents was most notable in the 16–20-year-old age range. This is more good news as it demonstrates the positive impact that apprenticeships, health & safety training, professional development, and improved safety guidance and measures are having on young people embarking on careers in scaffolding.
At SIMIAN, we are passionate about the safety and professionalism of our industry, and we have been working tirelessly to improve safety standards for those working as scaffolders and working at height. Our training courses and apprenticeships both contribute to helping scaffolders to work safely and manage the risks associated with their work.
We are proud of the work we do with NASC and the contribution that we have made to improving safety. The findings are the culmination of many years of hard work across the scaffolding and access industry to improve standards through the right training and adhering to health and safety guidelines to make our sector as safe as it can be.
Where safety is concerned there is always more that can be done and we will continue to work with NASC, our clients, and students to capitalise on the excellent work which has already had a positive impact, and to continue to improve standards.