HSE health and safety statistics 2017-18

Health and safety statistics on work-related injury, ill health, enforcement and costs in Great Britain are released annually by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

Hard hat employee

Key findings for 2018 are:

  • - 1.4 million working people suffering from a work-related illness
  • - 144 workers killed at work
  • - £15 billion currently estimated to be the annual cost of injuries and ill health from working conditions
  • - 2,595 mesothelioma deaths due to pass exposures to asbestos (2016)
  • - 0.6 million individual self-reported cases of work-related stress, depression or anxiety
  • - 0.5 million work-related musculoskeletal disorder cases
  • - 30.7 million working days lost due to work-related ill health and workplace injury

The extent and impact of work-related injury, ill health, enforcement and costs:

Costs to the British economy include: £3.0 billion borne by employers, £3.4 billion borne by the Government and £8.6 billion carried by individuals.

Working days lost due to stress, depression or anxiety account for 57% of all working days lost due to ill health – 15.4 million working days in total were lost in this way in 2017/18.

There were 156,000 new cases of work-related musculoskeletal disorders in 2017/18. Manual handling, awkward or tiring positions, keyboard work and repetitive actions are estimated to be the main causes of such work-related musculoskeletal disorders.

Some 12,000 lung disease deaths are estimated to be linked each year to past exposures at work.

Agriculture, forestry and fishing was the industry sector reporting the statistically highest work-related ill health and workplace non-fatal injury rates (in comparison to the rates for all industries).

However, on a more positive note, the UK consistently has one of the lowest standardised rates of fatal injury across the EU, lower than the other large economies and the EU average.

Image: Getty Images

Read the HSE summary statistics, including European comparison figures.

See also: 

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