Moral aspects – What is right and what is wrong?
Morals are the codes of conduct, or rules of behaviour imposed by a society regarding what is right and wrong. For people to be killed, or seriously injured, or to suffer illness as a consequence of work is clearly wrong. Although, in the UK there are generally good standards of workplace health and safety, a lot of harm is still caused each year.
Typical numbers reported annually can be seen by clicking the buttons below.
Injuries
Occupational ill-health
Occupational cancers
Injuries
| Injury type | Reported numbers 2014/15 |
Rate per 100 000 workers |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014/15 | Average over 5 years | ||
| Fatal injuries (all workers) | 142 | 0.46 | 0.53 |
| Notified major injuries (e.g. broken arm or leg) | 18 084 | 292.9* | 306.2 (over 3 years, since RIDDOR change, 2013) |
| Reported 'over-7-day' injuries (unable to do normal work for more than 7 days) | 57 970 | ||
* Rate of non-fatal injury per 100 000 workers (recent HSE figures do not provide split of non-fatal injury rates).
Occupational ill-health
Data on occupational ill-health is compiled from a number of sources including self-reports, medical reporting systems and the industrial injury disability scheme.
| Type of ill-health | Total cases (prevalence) of self-reported work-related illness (central estimate) |
New cases (incidence) of self-reported work-related illness (central estimate) |
|---|---|---|
| All illnesses | 1 243 000 | 516 000 |
| Musculoskeletal disorders | 553 000 | 169 000 |
| Stress, depression and anxiety | 440 000 | 234 000 |
Occupational cancers
The total of occupational cancers is more than 30 times that for fatal injuries.
| Causes of death | Estimate of deaths each year |
|---|---|
| Occupational cancers (general) | 8 000 |
| Asbestos related cancers | 4 000 |
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) publishes annual statistics of reported cases
of workplace injury and illness. The statistics are made available on the HSE website:
www.hse.gov.uk/statistics 