The number of construction deaths fell by 20% last year, according to figures released this week by the Health and Safety Executive

Forty-one people died in the year ended 31 March 2010, compared to 52 in the same period last year. The average number of deaths in the industry over the previous five years was 66. The HSE’s chief inspector of construction, Philip White, said: “While it’s heartening to see a continued reduction in the number of deaths in construction, it’s tempered by the fact that 41 workers failed to come home to their families last year because of avoidable safety failings.”