NASC figures show accidents and injuries have reached an all-time low

In amongst all the doom and gloom news of late, it makes a pleasant change for us to be announcing something positive! The publication of the National Access and Scaffolding Confederation’s Annual Safety Report, shows accidents and injuries in the scaffolding industry have hit an all-time low!

In 2019, just 79 incidents took place in an industry of over 17,000. This equates to one injury per 230 operatives, a vast improvement on the previous year’s figures that showed one injury per 150 operatives and this represents a 35% decrease and an overall frequency rate of 0.22, i.e. less than a quarter of an accident for every 100,000 hours worked in the industry.

There were no fatalities recorded in 2019, for the seventh straight year.

The report showed a total of 74 injuries classified as ‘major’ or RIDDOR OSD (over seven day), a 35% decrease on the same figures in the previous reporting period.

A total of 12 falls from height were recorded, as opposed to 22, which represents a 45% decrease compared to the previous year.

38% of all accidents recorded by NASC members were categorised as ‘slips, trips or falls’ and while this is a significant decrease of 42% on the 2018 figures, it again represents the biggest cause of incidents in the industry.

You can take a look at the full report here.

Speaking about the report, Operations Director, Dave Randles has said: “As an industry, safety standards have come a long way and the latest figures are extremely promising. This highlights just how crucial it is that scaffolding professionals continue to train and improve their competence and maintain CPD in relation to scaffolding safety matters.”

SIMIAN are very proud to have been a part of helping to improve safety standards, and we are continuing to do so throughout the COVID-19 pandemic by providing a series of FREE virtual Toolbox Talks to all those in the industry that wish to enhance or maintain their scaffolding safety knowledge. Find out more about these sessions here.