The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has announced a new inspection campaign targeting local authorities' management of asbestos risks in council-owned buildings. The initiative will involve hundreds of inspections across various council properties, including libraries, museums, and leisure centres. HSE inspectors will assess compliance with the 'duty to manage' requirements under Regulation 4 of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012, SI 2012/632. This campaign follows previous inspections of hospitals and schools and aligns with the HSE's 'The Asbestos – Your Duty' awareness campaign launched in January 2024. The inspections aim to ensure that councils are effectively managing asbestos risks in buildings constructed before 2000, particularly those built between 1950 and 1980 when asbestos use in construction was at its peak.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and industry partners have launched a framework titled ‘Principles of Workplace Health and Wellbeing Leadership’ at a launch event at the House of Lords. The framework aims to raise standards of physical and mental health in the workplace across the onshore chemicals and major hazards industries. It places accountability on senior leaders for supporting the prevention of work-related ill health and builds on the model established for process safety leadership following the 2005 Buncefield tragedy. It is developed by the Chemicals and Major Hazards Working Group and responds to HSE’s Prevention Programme.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has announced that it will lead the investigation into the death of Michael Jones, who was killed on 14 August 2023, while working on construction of Everton Football Club’s new stadium. The HSE has noted there is no longer any involvement of Merseyside Police, and the criminal investigation will be led by the HSE.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has announced that it is leading the investigation into a ride malfunction at the Lambeth Country Show which occurred at Brockwell Park in London on 8 June 2024, resulting in the injury of four people. HSE's Buxton Science and Research Centre is forensically examining the ride involved in the incident. The Metropolitan Police, the previous lead agency in the investigation, signed over primacy to the HSE on 16 July 2024.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has commemorated its 50th anniversary on 1 January 2025, highlighting significant progress in reducing workplace fatalities from 651 in 1974 to 138 in 2023/2024. Established by the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, the HSE continues to evolve its role, as evidenced by its 2022 strategy 'Protecting People and Places'. The regulator has expanded its remit to include public safety assurance, becoming the appointed Building Safety Regulator and assuming an extended role in chemical regulation post-Brexit. Despite these new responsibilities, the HSE maintains its core principle of ensuring those who create risk are held accountable for controlling it, whilst supporting economic growth and worker protection.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has opened a call for evidence, asking professional users of firefighting foams to comment on perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in firefighting foams in Great Britain. The HSE is interested in seeking information on the manufacture of firefighting foams, the import of firefighting foam products and alternatives to PFAS. The information submitted will be used to assist in the creation of a UK REACH restriction report regarding the dangers of using PFAS. The call for evidence closes at 23:59 on 3 June 2024.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has published information from the Building Safety Regulator’s (BSR) register of high-rise residential buildings in England. Under the Building Safety Act 2022, high-rise residential buildings are known as 'higher-risk buildings' where they have at least seven storeys or are at least 18 metres high, and have at least two residential units. The BSR holds information about the building’s principal accountable person who is responsible for registering the building and reporting any building-related changes. For each structure within a building, the BSR holds information on its height, number of floors and date of construction.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has published its UK REACH Article 83 Report for 2023-24 and Work Programme for 2024-25. The Article 83 report highlights key achievements and activities for the 2023-24 work year, including the processing of 677 new substance registrations, comprising 654 registrations of existing substances and 23 novel ones. The 2024-25 Work Programme outlines how the HSE, in collaboration with the Environment Agency, will conduct its regulatory activities to meet UK REACH objectives and timelines. It details planned operational activities for 2024-25, including multi-annual projects, registration processing, dossier and substance evaluations, and authorisation, among other activities.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has published its annual statistics on work-related ill health and workplace injuries for 2023—2024. The report reveals that 1.7m workers reported suffering from work-related ill health, with approximately half of these cases relating to stress, depression or anxiety. The data shows 33.7m working days were lost due to work-related ill health or injury. Additionally, 138 workers were killed in work-related accidents, while 604,000 sustained self-reported non-fatal injuries. The economic impact is significant, with the estimated annual costs of workplace injury and new cases of work-related ill health reaching £21.6b in 2022—2023, a decrease of £1.6b compared to the previous year. Despite improvements over the past 50 years, the HSE emphasises the need for continued efforts to enhance workplace safety and health across Britain

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has published its annual statistics, reporting 126 worker fatalities in Great Britain (GB) between April 2025 and March 2026. Excluding the years affected by the coronavirus pandemic, HSE says this is provisionally the lowest annual total on record. HSE has also published new international analysis comparing fatal workplace injury rates across 35 countries, concluding that GB continues to be one of the safest places in the world to work. Construction recorded the highest number of worker deaths (25), followed by agriculture, forestry and fishing (22), while agriculture, forestry and fishing continued to have the highest fatal injury rate per 100,000 workers. Falls from height remained the leading cause of fatal injuries, accounting for 31 deaths. An additional 104 members of the public died in work-related incidents during the same period. The HSE has also published annual mesothelioma statistics, showing 2,146 deaths in GB in 2024 due to past asbestos exposure. This represents a decrease of 109 compared with 2023 and is below the 10-year average of 2,508 deaths per year between 2011 and 2020. HSE expects annual mesothelioma deaths to continue declining as cases increasingly reflect historical exposure to asbestos before the 1980s.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has published its annual statistics, reporting 124 worker fatalities in Great Britain between April 2024 and March 2025. This marks a decrease of 14 compared to the previous year and remains consistent with pre-pandemic levels. The construction industry recorded the highest number of deaths at 35, followed by agriculture, forestry and fishing with 23 deaths; the latter also had the highest fatal injury rate per 100,000 workers. Falls from height were the leading cause of fatal injuries, accounting for over a quarter of the total. An additional 92 members of the public died in work-related incidents during the same period. The HSE has also released data on mesothelioma, showing 2,218 deaths in 2023 due to past asbestos exposure. This figure is 62 fewer than in 2022 and below the ten-year average of 2,508 deaths per year from 2011 to 2020. The HSE expects the decline to continue as historical exposures diminish.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has published its annual workplace and safety statistics for 2024–25, reporting that 1.9 million workers experienced work-related ill health in 2024–25, including 964,000 affected by mental health conditions. The report also recorded 124 workplace fatalities and 680,000 non-fatal injuries, leading to the loss of 40.1 million injuries and ill health reached £22.9bn in 2023–24.