A Half Million Work Injuries in UK During 2017/2018: HSE
There have been no significant changes in the industries in which workers are most likely to be injured by their work, with construction and agriculture among the sectors with the highest risks.
England's Health and Safety Executive has released Great Britain's annual injury and illness statistics. During 2017/2018, 1.4 million workers were suffered from work-related illnesses and around 555,000 were hurt on the job, according to HSE, which compiled the numbers from the Labour Force Survey and other sources.
The key figures for the year are:
- 144 fatal injuries at work
- 1.4 million working people suffering from a work-related illness
- 30.7 million working days lost due to work-related illness and workplace injury
- 493 cases were prosecuted and resulted in a conviction. Fines from convictions totaled £72.6 million.
Workplace injury and new cases of illness cost Britain £15.0 billion a year. There have been no significant changes in the industries in which workers are most likely to be injured by their work, with construction and agriculture among the sectors with the highest risks. The agency said the figures confirm the scale of the challenge HSE faces in making Britain a healthier and safer place to work and shows that there are still areas to improve on to prevent death, injury, and illness in the workplace.
Martin Temple, HSE's chair, said, "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. Collectively we must take responsibility to prevent these incidents that still affect too many lives every year, and continue to all play our part in Helping Great Britain Work Well."