HSE releases annual health and safety statistics 2021/22
The estimated number of workers in Great Britain suffering a work-related illness is 1.8 million with stress, depression, and anxiety making up around half of cases, new figures show.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has published its annual statistics on work-related ill health and workplace injuries.
The figures from Great Britain’s workplace regulator show there were an estimated 914,000 cases of work-related stress, depression, or anxiety in 2021/22.
An estimated 17 million working days were lost due to work-related stress, depression, or anxiety in 2021/22. This is over half of all working days lost due to work-related ill health.
HSE has been warning of a growing crisis in stress and poor mental health related to work. The workplace regulator launched a major campaign last year to remind employers of their responsibilities to their employees’ mental health.
HSE’s Chief Executive, Sarah Albon, said: “Stress and poor mental health is the number one cause of work-related ill health. The effects of stress, depression, and anxiety can have a significant impact on an employee’s life and on their ability to perform their best at work.
“Britain is one of the safest places in the world to work but we need all employers to do more and take seriously their responsibilities to support good mental health at work. That’s why improving mental health in the workplace is a key priority in our 10-year strategy ‘Protecting People and Places’, and why we’re developing new partnerships across industry to help employers support their employees.”
HSE’s annual statistics release shows the impact work-related ill health is having on Great Britain’s economic performance:
- 36.8 million working days were lost due to work-related ill health and non-fatal workplace injuries in 2021/22.
- The annual economic cost of work-related injury and new cases of ill health (excluding long latency illnesses such as cancer) was £18.8 billion in 2019/20.
The figures also show that 123 workers were killed in work-related accidents in 2021/22 and a further 565,000 workers sustained a non-fatal injury.
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact on the workplace. Of the 1.8 million suffering a work-related illness, an estimated 585,000 reported it was caused or made worse by the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. Around a quarter of these workers were in human health and social work. In addition, 123,000 workers suffering with COVID-19 believed they were exposed to the virus at work.
HSE’s Working Minds campaign, recently celebrated its first anniversary.
One year on, the HSE’s campaign partners share their views on why mental health and stress prevention need to be a priority in these challenging times.
The campaign has also reached a significant milestone of one thousand champions signed up to support, share and amplify messages. Please support the campaign and help share our messages across the construction industry by becoming a Working Minds Champion.
You can listen to the following podcasts:
- HSE’s latest podcast in which HSE Chair Sarah Newton and Professor Sir Cary Cooper, one of the world’s foremost experts on wellbeing, talk about the importance of stress, good mental health and the campaign
- Joint Acas and HSE podcast focusing on the legal duties employers have around work-related stress and mental health and the benefits of taking action to prevent and manage the causes of stress in the workplace
Other useful information and resources include:
CDM Case Studies for Small Builders and Contractors
The Construction Leadership Council’s Health, Safety and Wellbeing worksteam is launching a new guide entitled CDM Case Studies for Small Builders and Contractors for small construction businesses and tradespeople working in the domestic sector.
The Construction (Design & Management) Regulations 2015 (CDM 2015) are the main set of regulations for managing the health, safety and welfare of construction projects and applies to all building and construction work and includes new build, demolition, refurbishment, extensions, conversions, repair and maintenance. However, research has shown that knowledge, application and understanding of the CDM 2015 Regulations has been shown to vary across the sector, especially amongst smaller businesses.
In response to this, and to help builders and contractors understand their roles and responsibilities, the Supporting Small Employers group, working with the Keeping Pace with Change group of the Construction Industry Advisory Council (CONIAC), has developed a new handy guide, showing how CDM Regulations are applied in practice to three standard small building projects.
The guide is a short interactive PDF, includes useful links to helpful industry resources, explains what CDM Regulations are and why they matter, provides case studies, a helpful one-page flowchart and summary FAQs with plain English translations.
The guide is an amended and abridged version of the ‘CDM 20-20 Vision – Changing the Culture’ guide, which includes a range of examples of CDM applied to a variety of work types. The version published today has been produced by the Supporting Small Employers group of CONIAC and has been written by small businesses, for small businesses.
The CLC is asking and encouraging construction professionals and businesses who operate in, or supply, the domestic sector to share the guide with others who work in the industry. The document may also be a useful reference for homeowners who are commissioning small works.
Click here to download the guide.
Recent Enforcement Activity
Working at height: Fragile surfaces
- Scaffolding company fined after worker injured in fall through skylight
- Fatal skylight fall – company and director sentenced
Links for further guidance and information: Fragile surfaces
Working at height: Roof work
Links for further guidance and information: Roof work
Electricity
Links for further guidance and information: Electricity – overhead power lines
CDM Regulations
Links for further guidance and information: Principal contractors: roles and responsibilities
Excavators
Links for further guidance and information: Excavators
Asbestos
Links for further guidance and information: Asbestos: risk assessments
