Health and Safety Executive releases annual data on workplace dangers

05 December 2014

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has released their annual statistics report for Great Britain that highlights the dangers to employees in the nation's workplaces, including illnesses contracted, injuries sustained, the working days that are lost and the economic cost to the UK.

According to the report, over 1.2 million people were suffering with some form of illness during the last year, with just over half a million of those employees developing a new ailment during that time. Around 184,000 (34percent) of these newly-acquired illnesses were musculoskeletal in nature, while almost 46percent were related to stress, depression or anxiety.

The HSE study also confirms that employees suffer more fatal accidents in construction, agriculture or waste and recycling industries than in others. Non-fatal injuries were also reported. Slips and trips were the most common kind of accident (28%), followed by those incurred while handling, lifting or carrying (24%), while another 10% were due to being hit by moving objects.