New analysis of Health and Safety Executive (HSE) fatal injury data shows construction and agriculture remain two of the sectors with the highest numbers of workplace deaths in Britain.
Intasite, which works with organisations across construction, agriculture, logistics and service-based industries to manage site access and safety processes, reviewed incidents recorded between May 2025 and March 2026. The analysis shows that falls from height, moving vehicles and contact with machinery remain the leading causes of fatal injuries across multiple industries, despite long-standing regulation and guidance.
The data shows that services, construction and agriculture together account for the majority of recorded deaths, with incidents spanning building sites, farms, logistics operations and public-facing environments such as landscaping and vehicle repair.
Construction remains consistently high risk, with fatalities frequently involving falls from roofs and scaffolding, collapsing structures and workers being struck by objects. Roofing, demolition and domestic building projects feature repeatedly in the data, affecting both employees and the self-employed.
Agriculture also continues to be one of the most dangerous sectors in the UK, particularly for self-employed workers and those operating alone. Meanwhile, the services sector, often perceived as lower risk, accounts for the highest overall number of deaths, with incidents recorded across transport, waste collection, education and healthcare. A significant proportion involve members of the public as well as workers.
Danielle Croce, Commercial Director from Intasite, said: “The consistency of the findings across sectors is deeply troubling. Falls from height, moving vehicles and contact with machinery dominate the data year after year. These are not emerging risks, but instead they are long recognised hazards so the fact they continue to kill people tells us the issue isn’t a lack of knowledge, but how safety is being applied on the ground.
“It points to deeper problems in how safety is managed, particularly in industries with transient workforces. When people move between sites and contractors, inconsistent or informal inductions make it far easier for critical risks to be missed.
“Proper inductions and awareness raising of hazards are the only real chance for many workers to understand the specific risks of a site before they start work. If that moment is rushed or treated as a tick box exercise, the consequences can be severe.
“When workforces change daily, managers can quickly lose visibility of who has been briefed on what. Digital systems give clarity in real time who is on site, what they’ve been told, and whether essential safety steps have been completed. That visibility allows risks to be addressed before someone gets hurt.
“The tragedy is that so many of these deaths were foreseeable. Better inductions, clearer communication and stronger oversight won’t remove danger entirely, but they can greatly reduce the chance of someone not coming home from work.”
Workplace fatalities by industry
(HSE fatal injury records analysed by Intasite, May 2025 – March 2026)
| Industry sector | Number of deaths |
| Services | 28 |
| Agriculture | 18 |
| Construction | 16 |
| Manufacturing | 11 |
| Water & Waste Management | 4 |
| Extractive / Utilities | 1 |
