HSE concerned that 21 motor repair workers killed since 2017

The Health and Safety Executive has urged motor repair workshops to ensure their processes and practices are fit for purpose as its data shows that 21 workers in the sector have been killed in incidents since 2017.

In the same period almost 4,500 reportable work-related non-fatal injuries have also been recorded by the HSE at businesses involved in the sale and repair of motor vehicles.

With more than half of those deaths occuring while working under a vehicle, the HSE has highlighted this as a particular risk when a vehicle is incorrectly supported.

The annual death rate in the motor vehicle repair industry is 1.62 deaths per 100,000 workers – around four times the average rate across all industries. In total, 21 workers in the motor vehicle repair industry have been killed in the last five years – 13 of which were caused by work under a poorly supported vehicle.

Fiona McGarry, an HSE inspector who works with the motor vehicle repair trade said: “One death is too many – to us, these tragedies could easily have been avoided, but they keep happening. Sadly, the phrase we hear too often is ‘this will only take me a minute’. It is crucial the correct equipment is used when working under vehicles.”

As Britain’s workplace regulator, HSE is officially notified of work-related fatal and certain non-fatal accidents across England, Scotland and Wales. Alongside those 13 deaths , there are many more non-fatal injuries and near misses following work under poorly supported vehicles, it said.

McGarry said HSE is "becoming increasingly concerned about the scale of the issue", and failure to learn from near misses or injuries will risk lives.

“Some of these issues relate to smaller garages – places that are hard to reach. We have always had a strong relationship with the motor vehicle repair sector, and we respect the expertise of these small businesses.

“But as the issue has persisted, we needed to raise awareness of the issue together."

Although some of those killed were self-employed, the HSE data shows more than half were employees of motor repair businesses.

Julian Woods, chief executive of the Garage Equipment Association, has backed the HSE's alarm-raising. “We all need to be thinking of not only ourselves but everybody’s health and safety. If we see an unsafe act we should raise it up and not just turn a blind eye and keep walking," he said.

He added: “We consider health and safety to be of the upmost importance to our industry and any loss of life should be considered an unacceptable situation.

“We drive to improve health and safety not only for our members but in the industry as a whole. It’s all too easy to think it will never happen to me or it will only take a second to sort, so skip safety items to get the job done quickly, but these statistics are unacceptable."

All work-related fatalities are reportable to the HSE, as are certain specified injuries such as fractures, serious burns, head injuries causing any loss of consciousness, and accidents which result in a worker being unable to perform their normal work duties for more than seven days.