Last month the HSE published its annual work-related ill-health, injury and enforcement statistics for 2020/21. The 12-month period in question coincides with the first national lockdown and the unprecedented challenges of the pandemic. Whilst the pandemic has had an influence on how certain data was collected, some of the findings* are below:
- 142 workers killed at work
- 7 million working people suffering from a work-related illness, of which:
- – 822,000 workers suffering work-related stress, depression, or anxiety
- – 470,000 workers suffering from a work-related musculoskeletal disorder
- – 93,000 workers suffering from COVID-19 which they believe may have been from exposure to coronavirus at work
- 441,000 working people sustained an injury at work according to the Labour Force Survey
- More than 17 million working days were lost as a result of stress, anxiety, or depression
As the HSE’s Chief Executive, Sarah Albon commented:
“These annual statistics are important to give us a clear picture of the health and safety risks faced by workers in the Great Britain and help to inform the measures HSE, employers, policy-makers and workers themselves need to take to ensure everyone can go home from work safe and well.”
She added “our campaign is focused on giving employers a clear reminder of their duties while championing work-related stress and promoting good mental health at work.”
With Covid-19 having impacted so heavily on the nation’s health, and not surprisingly, on people’s mental health and wellbeing, it is important that both employees and companies look after and look out for each other. In November 2021 the HSE announced their new ‘Working Minds’ campaign to help employers recognise and prevent stress through proactive engagement with their workforce.
While ‘Working Minds’ is specifically targeting six million workers in small businesses, the HSE is calling for a culture change across Britain’s workplaces, to ensure psychological risks are treated the same as physical ones in health and safety risk management.
The Alkoomi organisation wide culture survey process provides our clients with an in-depth and detailed understanding of the culture of their organisation including the health and wellbeing of their people. We develop, in partnership with our clients, new strategies, practices and tools support of promoting good mental health at work.
