Employers are being urged not to be complacent on health and safety, after it was revealed there were 211 serious workplace injuries in Bradford last year.

The figures, released by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), show a fall in work-related injuries from the previous year, when there were 247 serious injuries reported. The figures reflect a drop in injuries reported across Yorkshire. One person died after a workplace accident in Bradford this year, the same number as last year.

David Snowball, regional director for the HSE in Yorkshire and the Humber, said: “The national fall in the numbers of workers killed or injured through their work is encouraging but each death means a family missing a loved one.

“Straightforward health and safety measures save lives. Sometimes it really is as simple as that.

“There are all sorts of resolutions employers might make in January but reinforcing their commitment to looking after their employees is a good place to start.”

On October 18 this year a 23-year-old man was killed when a trench collapsed on him. Andrew Lancaster had been working for his family’s business and was clearing gravel to get to a faulty sewerage pipe when the side of the trench he was in collapsed and buried him at a development in Heaton.

There were 2,714 serious workplace injuries recorded in Yorkshire and the Humber overall last year, compared to 2,946 in the previous year, and there were 23 deaths, one fewer than the previous year.

In the Craven local authority there was one death and 21 serious injuries last year. Calderdale saw no fatalities but 98 serious injuries, while there were two deaths and 171 serious injuries in Kirklees and three deaths and 411 serious injuries in Leeds.

The reporting of health and safety incidents at work is a statutory requirement.

For more information visit the website at hse.gov.uk.