The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has published annual statistics for health and safety at work in Great Britain for the year April 2016 to March 2017. These show that an estimated 31.2 million days were lost through work-related ill health (25.7 million days) and non-fatal workplace injury (5.5 million days).
In addition, in 2016/2017 there were:
- 137 fatal injuries – down from 144 in the year 2015/2016;
- 1.3 million working people suffering from work-related ill health (new or longstanding cases) – the same as for the previous year;
- 70,116 non-fatal injuries reported by employers under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013. This compares with 72,702 in the year 2015/2016; and
- 609,000 injuries at work according to self-reports from the Labour Force Survey, compared with 621,000 in the previous year.
The annual cost of work-related injury and new cases of ill health in 2015/2016, excluding long-latency illness such as cancer, was £14.9 billion, compared with £14.1 billion for the year 2014/2015.
In 2015, there were 2,542 deaths from mesothelioma as a result of past exposure to asbestos, compared with 2,515 in the year 2014.