Health & Safety Statistics: 2007/2008

Work-related Ill Health & Diseases

The health and safety statistics for the UK in 2007/2008 have recently been published by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). 

The key statistics for Work –related Ill Health and Diseases are:

According to the Labour Force Survey, 2.1 million people suffered from an illness they believed was work-related.  Over half of these cases (1.3 million) are estimated to have been suffered by people who had worked in the last 12 months, of which 563,000 were new cases.  Disorders involving muscles and bones and stress were the most commonly reported illness type.

2,056 people died of mesothelioma, which represents a dramatic increase from the 153 deaths in 1968.  Thousands more people died from other occupational cancers and lung diseases.  The HSE is currently updating its estimates, but the emerging information suggests that the annual number of work-related cancer deaths is likely to be in excess of 6,000.  About 4,000 cancer deaths each year are due to past exposure to asbestos. 

A surveillance scheme collecting reports from hospital dermatologists recorded about 1,400 confirmed cases of work-related dermatitis.