Construction union UCATT has described the latest construction fatality figures announced as "not good news in anyway".

The provisional figures published by the Health and Safety Executive, show that there were 49 construction fatalities in 2011/12, compared to 50 deaths in the previous 12 months.

Although any decline in deaths is to be welcomed, the decrease in fatalities comes at a time when the number of people working in the construction industry continues to fall. In 2011 the number of people working in construction fell by 71,000.

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Steve Murphy, General Secretary of UCATT, said: "No one should consider the latest construction fatality figures to be good news in anyway. Deaths remain far too high, especially given the declining number of people working in the industry. Each and every death results in a family being left devastated when a loved one is killed."

The latest figures published by the HSE reveal that self-employed construction workers are at greater risk of suffering a fatal injury than employees. The rate of fatal injuries for directly employed construction workers in 2011/12 was 2 per 100,000 compared to a rate of 2.8 per 100,000 for self-employed construction workers.

Mr Murphy, added: "Sadly all the indicators are that as the construction industry recovers deaths are likely to increase substantially. Rather than cutting back on the limited safety provisions that currently exist in the construction industry, the Government should be concentrating their energies on ensuring the safety of workers."

(CD)