For the period of April 2016 to March 2017, HSE have recorded the second-lowest annual total of work-related fatalities on record. This was 10 lower than the previous annual total.

The figures were published on Wednesday 5 July, and the HSE want to ensure this down-ward trend of work related fatalities continue.

A five year strategy has been put in place called WORK 2022 which aims to enhance the health and safety profession to ensure it keeps pace with our rapidly-changing world of work.

The breakdown of the 137 deaths in 2016-17 shows us that  30 were in construction, ( the lowest annual number in that sector) and 27 were in agriculture. There were also 14 fatal injuries in waste and recycling.

92 members of the public were fatally injured in accidents connected to work, half of them occurring on railways.

However the HSE has revealed  2,542 people died in Great Britain in 2015 from mesothelioma, a form of occupational cancer contracted from past exposure to asbestos which has risen from 2,519 in 2014.

The UK has the highest incidence of mesothelioma on the globe. The HSE has said this represents widespread exposure to asbestos before 1980, now causing disease in older people.