Roof rails could be instrumental in reducing the total number of HSE prosecutions brought in the north-west each year, by preventing falls from height in the workplace.
Figures from the HSE show that of the 65 court actions it brought in the past 12 months in the region, 14 related to work at height.
At almost 22% of all cases, that’s more than one in five, and more than any other single cause – the closest to matching the figure was unsafe machinery, which was responsible for 12 incidents.
In the north-west alone, 23 people are killed in the workplace in an average year, about an eighth of the national total of 181.
Nearly a third of fatal injuries in 2012-13 pertained to falls from height, again more than any other category.
Taking the figures together, this suggests that roughly one in every 25 workplace fatalities in Great Britain is a fall from height in the north-west.
Roof rails are just one way to begin to reduce this figure in the years to come, by providing a physical barrier against falls.