Over a quarter of tradespeople are unable to work due to workplace injuries

​​​​​​​Almost all (95%) tradespeople say they’ve suffered a workplace injury during their career, research shows

New figures from the Health and Safety Executive reveal that 50,000 construction workers suffered workplace injuries in 2024-2025.

Research from Direct Line business insurance shows that over a quarter of tradespeople (26%) have suffered a workplace injury that left them unable to work for more than six months.

A further 29% have had an injury that prevented them from working for between a week and a month, and almost all tradespeople (95%) said they’d been injured at work at some point.

The Health & Safety Executive’s data for 2024-25 shows that construction is the second most dangerous sector for workplace injuries, with 2,500 injuries per 100,000 workers, compared to 3,080 per 100,000 in accommodation and food service.

According to Direct Line’s research, just over one in seven tradespeople (15%) said that they weren’t very aware of the health and safety rules that apply to their job, with a further 3% admitting to having no awareness of the rules at all.

Less than half (39%) of all the tradespeople who responded to the survey said they were fully aware of health and safety rules and that they stayed abreast of any changes.

Even when tradespeople are aware of the health and safety requirements, they aren’t always followed.

In fact, just 39% said they adhered to it all the time, 42% most of the time, and 13% some of the time. Shockingly, more than 5% of tradies said the rules were rarely or never followed.

Falling from a height is the most common cause of injuries on construction sites. Injuries whilst lifting or carrying account for the most injuries that result in a week or more off work.