Work-related illness
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) was first established half a century ago, and it is undeniable that the HSE has made a massive difference to work-related illness since inception. In a press release issued last week the HSE’s Chief Executive, Sarah Albon, said;
“This year marks 50 years since the legislation which established HSE was passed. Much has been achieved in that time, including a dramatic reduction of around 85 per cent in the numbers of employee fatal injuries in the workplace. Today, Great Britain is one of the safest places in the world to work but these statistics serve as a reminder that there is still room for further improvement, and we remain committed to ensuring people remain safe and healthy wherever work is taking place.”
Not all good news
Albon is right to sound a note of caution.
For whilst the numbers of work-related deaths (138 in 2023/24) is now remarkably low for a nation of more than 33 million workers, the numbers of self-reported work related illness and injury remains significant, at 1.7 million cases last year. Whilst this number is slightly down on the previous year, it remains (as do so many health statistics) higher than the reported data before the Covid-19 pandemic arrived in the UK.
It should also be noted that the key drivers of self-reported absence are often quite different to the prevailing factors when the HSE began in 1974. Whilst musculoskeletal conditions are still a common workplace complaint, around half of the recorded cases, 776,000, were linked to work-related stress, depression or anxiety. Such conditions were little understood – or indeed recorded – in the 1970s, and they are still remarkably difficult for employers to combat with any consistency half a century later.
Absence & presenteeism numbers
The HSE data adds to the wider rates of absenteeism experienced by UK employers.
In 2023 an annual CIPD survey found the first significant increase in employee ill-health absence for a decade, with the average absence rate per employee, per year, increasing from 5.8 days to 7.8 days.
Yet ill-health does not always manifest itself in higher absence numbers alone. There is now an increasing acceptance of “presenteeism” in the British workplace. For those not familiar with the concept of presenteeism, it is essentially ill employees continuing to attend work and undertaking their duties, but often at far less than their optimum level of productivity. Another, often overlooked aspect of presenteeism, is the potential spread of contagious illness to other workers. One recent report suggests that the combined impact of absenteeism and presenteeism could be as high as 50 days of lost work per employee last year.
Such numbers clearly represent a very significant challenge to both employer productivity and the national economy, and it is for this reason that Occupational Health Assessment Ltd created our recent post looking at cost-effective employer options to improve worker wellbeing and reduce employee absence.
More work to do
In conclusion, it is clear that the British workplace is far safer than it was when the HSE began its work, and this is to be welcomed. The next big challenge is to reduce the work-related illness and other ill-health absence numbers so that the nation remains competitive in the second half of the 2020s.
About Occupational Health Assessment Ltd – a nationwide occupational health provider
Occupational Health Assessment Ltd provides rapid access to expert occupational health support for businesses across the United Kingdom. Appointments are available nationwide within two days.
With a unique occupational health assessment service, night worker health assessments, fitness certifications and access to clinics in Belfast, Birmingham, Bradford, Brighton, Bristol, Cardiff, Coventry, Derby, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Hull, Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Newcastle, Northampton, Nottingham, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Reading, Sheffield, Southampton, Stoke, Surrey and more, the business provides high quality, expert medical advice.
Please contact us for further information or assistance.