Key results During the financial year 2021 to 2022:
there were a total of 2,278 firefighter injuries, five per cent more than in the previous year (2,166) but ten per cent lower than five years previously (2,523)
49 injuries to firefighters were classed as major injuries[footnote 12], compared with 25 in the previous year and 130 five years earlier
977 firefighter injuries were sustained during operational incidents, four per cent more than in the previous year (941) but nine per cent fewer than five years previously (1,071)
there were no firefighter fatalities recorded – since 2012 to 2013 there have only been four firefighter fatalities in total, the most recent occurred in 2020 to 2021
Data are collected on injuries sustained by on-duty firefighters and whether they were sustained during operational incidents (at fires, road traffic collisions or at other special service incidents) or during training (operational or fitness) and routine activities. The collection asks for the total number of personnel injured, the number of ‘over seven-day injuries’, the number of RIDDOR[footnote 13] major injuries, and the number of fatalities. The total number of incidents attended during the financial year 2021 to 2022 was eleven per cent higher than the previous year. The increase in the number of incidents attended is likely to have been a contributing factor to the increase in firefighter injuries during the financial year 2021 to 2022; however, injuries do also occur during training and routine activities. The total number of injuries remains below pre-pandemic levels. Between financial year 2003 to 2004 and financial year 2014 to 2015 the number of firefighters injured was on a downward trend, partly reflecting the reduced number of incidents attended as well as other factors. Over this time period injuries decreased in both operational incidents (-64 per cent) and training and routine activities (-53 per cent). Since financial year 2014 to 2015 the number of injuries plateaued at around 2,600 injuries per year before decreasing to 2,466 injuries in financial year 2019 to 2020 and again to 2,166 in financial year 2020 to 2021 before increasing to 2,278 in 2021 to 2022. Figure 3.1: Total injuries to firefighters by activity type, England; financial year 2002 to 2003 to financial year 2020 to 2022 Source: FIRE0508
3.1 Injury severity During the financial year 2021 to 2022, there were 49 injuries to firefighters that were classed as major injuries. This compared with 25 in the previous year and 130 five years ago. Of the 44 FRSs in England, 26 reported at least one major injury in 2021 to 2022 compared with 18 in the previous year.
3.2 Injuries in operational incidents During the financial year 2021 to 2022, there were 977 firefighter injuries sustained during operational incidents. This was a four per cent increase compared with the previous year (941), a nine per cent decrease compared with five years ago (1,071) and a twenty per cent decrease compared with ten years ago (1,220). Of the 977 firefighter injuries that occurred during operational incidents in 2021 to 2022, 601 (62 per cent) occurred during fire incidents and 376 (38 per cent) occurred during non-fire incidents. Over the same time period, excluding fire false alarms, fires accounted for 44 per cent of incidents attended and non-fire incidents accounted for 56 per cent. Since 2019, the proportion of injuries that occurred during fires has decreased from 71 per cent to 62 per cent and the proportion that occurred during non-fire incidents has increased from 29 per cent to 38 per cent.
3.3 Firefighter fatalities During the financial year 2021 to 2022 there were no firefighter fatalities recorded. Since 2012 to 2013 there have only been four firefighter fatalities in total (two during training/routine activities and two during operational incidents). Further information on firefighters’ health and safety can be found in fire data tables 0508 and 0509.