Accidental deaths in the UK have reached an all-time high, with the rate increasing by 42% over the last decade, making them the second biggest killer of people under 40.

 
RoSPA is now calling on the Government to implement a National Accident Prevention Strategy to save lives, boost the economy and free up capacity in the NHS.

Accidental deaths and serious injuries are increasing

RoSPA’s report reveals that you are substantially more likely to suffer a serious accident today than you were 20 years ago. The rate of accidental deaths in the UK has increased by 42% in the last decade: accidents now take over 20,000 lives each year, which is more than the capacity of London’s O2 arena.

Accidental deaths have risen in England (up 40%), Scotland (up 57%), Wales (up 41%) and Northern Ireland (up 56%) since 2013. Accidents are the second biggest killer of people under 40 (after intentional injuries) and the most common cause of preventable death in children under 15.
 

In England alone, accident-related hospital admissions for serious injuries have risen by 48% in the last two decades. Over 740,000 people were admitted to hospital due to an accident in England in 2022/23, almost the size of the population of Leeds, rising to over 870,000 people across the UK.

Falls are the most common cause of accidental death and injury

New data from all four nations, collated by RoSPA, reveals that almost half (46%) of all accidental deaths (over 9,700 people) in 2022 resulted from falls. Over a quarter (26%) resulted from poisonings and 7% were because of a road traffic accident or transport related. Falls also accounted for nearly two thirds (61%) of all accident-related hospital admissions (almost 450,000 instances).
 
Accidents from crushing, striking, powered hand tools and machinery (known medically as ‘exposure to inanimate mechanical forces’) accounted for over one in 10 (12%) of all accident-related hospital admissions, and 7% were because of a road traffic accident or transport related.

Over half of all accidental deaths happen at home

 Your home is one of the most dangerous places to be as over half (55%) of all accidental deaths followed an accident at home, and a further 7% took place in other residential settings. People are significantly safer at work than they are at home - tragically in 2019 7,751 people died after an accident at home (55% of all accidental deaths in England) while 149 people died after an accident at work (0.8% of all accidental deaths in Great Britain).

Accidents cost the UK almost £12 billion every year

As well as personal pain and injury, accidents put a huge strain on the NHS, costing at least £6 billion annually in NHS medical care – not including ambulance callouts, surgery or long-term treatment.
 
In England alone last year, over 4.4 million bed days were used up to treat patients with accident-related injuries, costing the NHS an estimated £4.6 billion. Across the UK accidents led to around 5.2 million bed days, costing the NHS an estimated £5.4 billion last year. In addition, accidents resulted in around 7 million Accident & Emergency (A&E) visits across the UK last year, costing a further £613 million, bringing the total cost of accidents to the NHS to at least £6 billion annually.
 
Accident-related injuries are also a drain on the economy and prevent people from working. The combined cost to UK businesses is £5.9 billion, due to lost output and indirect management costs.

Ten times more working days lost due to accidents than strikes

Across the UK in 2022/23 7.7 million working days were lost by those who were unable to work after an accident as they’d been admitted to hospital, or by their carers who took time off work to be with them. A further 21 million working days were lost by those who had to attend A&E after an accident.  In total in 2022/23 accidents led to almost 29 million lost working days across the UK – 10 times more than were lost due to strikes (2.7 million lost working days) in the same year.

RoSPA is calling for the Government to create a National Accident Prevention Strategy to save lives, boost the economy and free up capacity in the NHS.

Becky Hickman, Chief Executive at RoSPA, said: “The UK is facing an accident crisis. We are all substantially more likely to suffer a serious accident today than we were 20 years ago. We must take action now to stop further preventable deaths and serious injuries – accidents are avoidable and do not need to happen. Even those who have never been involved in an accident are still suffering, as increasing numbers of accidents are choking the UK economy and engulfing the NHS – taking up bed space, money, time and resources that could be directed to other serious illnesses.
 
“Our new report revealing the growing numbers and types of fatal and life-changing accidents across the UK unveils a new public health scandal. By implementing a National Accident Prevention Strategy to sit across government departments problems can be tackled at their core, with a joined-up approach to cover all types of accidents – whether they happen at home, on the road, at work or in public. For too long we have accepted the economic and social consequences of accidents, and we’re still paying the price. We are calling for a National Accident Prevention Strategy to make the UK a safer place to live.”

Dan Evans, Chief Executive at Speedy Hire who are partnering RoSPA in this campaign, said: “We take health and safety extremely seriously, and it is a source of immense pride that we have been recognised for our excellence in keeping colleagues and customers safe. For us, colleague safety doesn’t begin and end at the workplace door, which is why at Speedy Hire we take a ‘whole person, whole life’ approach. This has never been more important to do so, as RoSPA’s report reveals people are far more likely to suffer a serious accident at home than they are at work. Both the cost of accidents to peoples’ personal lives and to businesses is far too high, so we must act now to keep people safe and support economic growth.”
 
RoSPA is calling for the Government to seize the initiative and create a National Accident Prevention Strategy – a first for the UK. And, because it’s impossible to arrest a crisis like this without a plan, RoSPA proposes that the National Accident Prevention Strategy is the specific responsibility of an individual minister without a portfolio. This would enable the minister to treat accident prevention holistically, with the authority to attend the Cabinet and the ability to convene cross-departmental committees.
 
The National Accident Prevention Strategy must:

• Take a joined-up approach which cuts across departments and provides strategic leadership to guide policy making at national level
• Empower individual departments or agencies to craft and implement more detailed policies
• Propose ambitious and evidence-led but realistic policy interventions to reduce accident rates
• Cover the core sectors directly affecting the UK economy: home, work, product, leisure and transport
• Be forward-facing to address emerging challenges, like the climate crisis, the rise of AI and the UK’s ageing population
• Address inequalities like deprivation, age, ethnicity and region
• Take a four-nations approach to data sharing and collaboration
• Strengthen Government’s data collection and publishing processes relating to accidents.