Research: Health and safety at work: Summary statistics for Great Britain 2018

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has released a summary of statistics covering work-related ill-health, work-related stress, workplace injuries and the number of working days lost due to ill-health.

Key findings

• There were 1 .4 million work-related ill health cases (new or long-standing) in 2017/18.
• There were 0.6 million work-related stress, depression or anxiety cases (new or longstanding) in 2017/18, while there were 0.5 million musculoskeletal disorder cases (new or longstanding).
• £9.7 billion is the annual cost of new cases of work-related ill health in 2016/17, excluding long latency illness such as cancer.
• There were 30.7 million working days lost due to work-related ill-health and non-fatal workplace injuries in 2017/18.
• UK rates of work-related ill-health resulting in sick leave were lower than most other European countries.

Martin Temple, HSE Chair, said of the findings: “These figures should serve as a reminder to us of the importance to manage risk and undertake good health and safety practice in the workplace.

“Great Britain’s health and safety record is something we should all be proud of, but there is still much to be done to ensure that every worker goes home at the end of their working day safe and healthy.”