Workplace safety compliance is back in the spotlight after the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) published its 2025/26 fatality figures. 126 workers died in work-related incidents across Great Britain last year, provisionally the lowest total on record outside the pandemic years. Construction recorded the highest number of fatalities of any sector, at 25, followed by agriculture, forestry and fishing with 22.

Falls from height remained the single biggest killer, responsible for roughly a quarter of all deaths. Workers aged 60 and over accounted for a third of fatalities, despite making up just 12% of the workforce, a signal that risk assessments need to account for experience and physical capability across an ageing workforce.

The numbers are genuinely encouraging in the long run, but they also confirm what many safety professionals already know: the same hazards keep causing harm, year after year, often because controls exist on paper but aren’t consistently checked on site.

This is where digital risk management changes the picture. FlexManager’s Risk Assessment, RAMS, and Field Level Risk Assessment tools help teams build safety controls that are actually followed, not just documented, while Safety Observations and Toolbox Talks keep hazard awareness live on every site, every day.

So, is your team confident that today’s risk assessments reflect what’s really happening on site, for every worker regardless of age or experience? Book a demo today and see how real-time safety management can help close that gap before it costs a life.