MPs debate national accident prevention strategy after rise in deaths
- Accidental deaths have risen by 8% in a single year
- Accidents cost the UK a minimum of £12 billion a year in a combination of NHS treatment and lost economic productivity
- Sir Andrew Mitchell MP led the debate, highlighting that 23,000 people die a year due to preventable accidents
MPs across the political spectrum are supporting the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA)’s call for the government to introduce a National Accident Prevention Strategy, following a Westminster Hall debate on rising accidental deaths in the UK.
The debate, led by Sir Andrew Mitchell MP, focused on figures from RoSPA’s Annual Review of Accidents showing accidental deaths have risen by 8% in a single year, with more than 23,000 people now killed annually in preventable accidents across the UK.
MPs from across the House, including Lee Pitcher, Sarah Olney, Jim Shannon and Greg Smith, highlighted the growing human and economic cost of accidents and and pressed the government to adopt a more coordinated approach to prevention.
Alongside being one of the leading causes of preventable death, accidents place increasing pressure on public services.
Nearly 900,000 people – the equivalent of the entire population of Devon – are admitted to hospital due to accidents every year, costing the NHS at least £6 billion in direct treatment costs. The UK economy loses another £6 billion due to lost working days and productivity, while accidents also remove people from the workforce and drive up the benefits bill.
Despite this, responsibility for accident prevention remains spread across multiple government departments and agencies, including transport, product safety and workplace safety, with no overarching national strategy to align efforts or track progress.
The Westminster Hall debate follows growing concern that while prevention strategies exist for issues such as road traffic collisions or workplace injuries, there is no overarching framework to keep people safe across all aspects of their lives.
Rebecca Hickman, chief executive of RoSPA, said: “Accidents are often treated as isolated events, but the data tells a different story.
“Rising death rates show this is a systemic issue that requires national leadership, clearer accountability and a long-term approach to prevention.”
Sir Andrew Mitchell MP said: “The burden extends across the economy. When people are injured, they are often unable to work- sometimes temporarily, sometimes permanently.
“Families lose income; employers lose skilled workers; productivity falls. The country loses millions of working days each year due to accident-related absence. The combined cost to UK business is now estimated at about £6 billion every year.
“Taken together, this represents a hidden but substantial cost to the country—to our health service, economy and public finances. The truth is that we can do better. Indeed, we have done better before.
“We know what works: safer homes, stronger product standards, effective public awareness campaigns, improved design of public spaces, better data collection, and co-ordinated action across Government and local agencies.”
