EnglishCosts of work-related injury and ill health
Work-related injury and ill health cause a great deal of personal pain and suffering for individuals, as well as worry and financial difficulty for families.
Employers have to provide temporary cover during staff absence and can lose money as a result of disrupted business activities. The indirect costs caused by the loss of customers and business opportunities, especially for the self-employed or small businesses, can also lead to hardship.
The cost of work-related injury and ill health to society include medical care and sickness, injury and unemployment benefits.
In Great Britain, in 2016/2017:
- 137 workers were killed at work
- there were 70,116 million non-fatal injuries reported
- the annual cost of work-related injury and ill health was estimated to be £14.9 billion
- 1.3 million workers reported suffering a work-related illness
- 31.2 million working days were lost to work-related injury and ill health
In reality, most of these figures are likely to be much higher because many incidents are not recorded or reported formally.
While there are some direct costs involved in developing good occupational health and safety standards – for example, in providing training and new equipment – there are huge potential long-term savings that can benefit workers, employers and society as a whole.
And so to work . . .
Remember:
- take reasonable care of your own and other people’s health and safety
- co-operate with your employer on health and safety
- follow the training you have received when using any work items your employer has given you
- tell someone (your employer, supervisor, or health and safety representative) if you think the work or inadequate precautions are putting anyone’s health and safety at serious risk
- the HSE website (www.hse.gov.uk) provides excellent information and resources to support health and safety at work