The construction industry is still killing more of its workers than any other sector. In the year to the end of March there were 42 fatal injuries, more than last year's 39 but fewer than the five-year average of 46 a year. The rate of fatal injury in construction is 1.98 per 100,000 workers compared with a five-year average for the sector of 2.07.

But 1.98 deaths per 100,000 workers is still four-and-a-half times the national average across all industries.

The figures were released yesterday (2 July) by the Health & Safety Executive (HSE). Across all industries, 133 workers were fatally injured in the year to March, compared with 150 in the previous year. The rate of fatal injury dropped to 0.44 per 100,000 workers compared with 0.51 in 2012/13.

Minister of State for Health & Safety, Mike Penning, says of the latest figures: “Any death at work is a death too many. But these statistics show that workplaces are getting safer. The Health & Safety Executive do an excellent job in making sure each and every one of us can go out to do an honest day’s work in the knowledge that our safety is being taken seriously.”

One dark spot in the figures is the number of deaths from mesothelioma, the cancer caused by exposure to asbestos. The disease killed 2,535 people in 2012, 10% more than in 2011.

Judith Hackitt, Chair of HSE, says: “The high numbers of deaths relating to mesothelioma are a reminder of historically poor standards of workplace health & safety, which decades later are causing thousands of painful, untimely deaths each year.

"While we now recognise and are better positioned to manage such health risks, these statistics are a stark reminder of the importance of keeping health standards in the workplace on a par with those we apply to safety.”