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On Wednesday 20 November, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) published its accident statistics for the period 2023-2024. It reveals a relatively stable situation compared with the previous period, but with higher rates than in the pre-pandemic period of 2018-2019.
It reveals the following key figures for Great Britain (2023/24):
- 1.7 million workers suffer from an occupational illness, including 776,000 from work-related stress, depression or anxiety
- 543,000 workers suffer from a work-related musculoskeletal disorder
- 2,257 people have died from mesothelioma due to previous exposure to asbestos (2022)
- 138 fatal accidents at work
- 604,000 workers were injured at work (Labour Force Survey)
- 61,663 employee injuries reported under the RIDDOR regulation
- 33.7 million working days lost due to occupational diseases and accidents
- Estimated cost of injuries and ill-health related to current working conditions: £21.6 billion (2022/23).
Sarah Albon, Director General of the HSE, which was legally established 50 years ago, welcomes the progress made since then, ‘including a reduction of around 85% in workplace fatalities’. Despite this, she acknowledges that challenges remain.
