Health and Safety Statistics

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) publishes statistics on workplace health and safety in Great Britain.  The latest data can be found at Health and safety statistics (hse.gov.uk)

In 2019/20:

• 111 workers were fatally injured at work

This is a provisional figure released by HSE on 1 July 2020. It is the lowest annual number of workplace deaths on record, and a fall of 38 from 2018/19.  HSE notes that this decrease was accentuated by the impact of coronavirus (COVID-19) on the economy in the final two months of the year, when many workers were not at work.  Fatal injury statistics do not include deaths from occupational diseases, including COVID-19.

At the time of writing 2018/19 is the most recent year we have data for non-fatal injuries and illness caused by work.  HSE will publish these statistics for 2019/20 in November 2020.

In 2018/19 there were:

• 69,208 non-fatal injuries to employees reported by employers
• 581,000 non-fatal injuries to workers according to self-reported estimates
• 1.4 million working people suffering from a work-related illness
• Stress, depression or anxiety is the most common type of work-related illness, accounting for 44% of work-related ill health and 54% of working days lost in 2018/19, with women particularly highly affected by this ill health type
• 28.2 million working days lost as a result of work-related ill health or injury

Occupation is the most important risk factor in relation to both work-related ill health and workplace injuries.

Sectors with the highest rates of fatal injury are construction, agriculture, waste disposal and recycling, and offshore fishing.

Sectors with the highest rates of non-fatal injury are agriculture, forestry and fishing and construction.

Sectors with the highest ill health rates are public administration and defence, human health and social work, and education.

In 2017/18, injuries and new cases of ill health in workers resulting from current working conditions cost society an estimated £15 billion.

The UK has a lower rate of fatal accidents at work than most other European countries.

For details on reporting deaths at work from coronavirus please see our Insight for International Workers’ Memorial Day on 28 April 2020.