Compass’ latest CPD session discussed an overview of the latest HSE statistics regarding 2020 – 2021. Read on for Compass’ take on some of the latest statistics.
COVID-19
For the first time, figures regarding the pandemic were put in with the statistics. There were reportedly 93000 workers suffering with Covid-19, which they believe to be caused by exposure to Covid-19 whilst at work. Over half of those workers were in human health and social work activities.
Excluding the 93,000 workers suffering from Covid-19, there was also 645,000 workers reported to be suffering from work related illnesses caused or made worse by the pandemic. 70% of this figure relates to stress depression or anxiety, which is no surprise as the very nature of living through a pandemic is stressful in itself, and certainly does not help to decrease stress within the workplace.
Work Related Ill Health
The amount of workers suffering from work related ill health had increased slightly from the previous year, having gone from 1.6 million in 2019/20 to 1.7 million in 2020/21. 850,000 workers have been reported with a new case of work related ill health. Of the 1.7 million workers suffering from work related ill health (new or long standing), stress, depression, and anxiety makes up 50% of the type of ill health suffered. 28% was musculoskeletal, and the remaining 22% included other types of ill health. At Compass we feel that these figures are fairly reflective of the workforce we encounter. From an occupational health perspective at Compass, at least half of the management referrals we get are around stress, depression, and anxiety.
Stress, Depression & Anxiety
Since 1990, stress, depression, and anxiety has been on an upward trend. One obvious reason for this trend which can’t be denied is stressful global circumstances, including the pandemic, which correlates with the big jump seen on the diagram below. Another reason we may be seeing a general upward trend since 1990 is the fact that a great deal of work has been, and is being done, to raise more awareness of mental health problems to try to reduce the stigma around it and help people to speak more freely about it. Perhaps because we are more aware of it, this has had some effect on the statistics – the result being workers who are more likely to report mental health issues and talk about problems either with their GP or their employer.
Traditional health and safety managers need to get comfortable with the topic of mental health, and can not think it is just something for HR to deal with. Debbie Williams, Head of Operations and Principal H&S Consultant says “It is a health and safety problem, and we need to get comfortable talking about it and addressing it and thinking about it like we would with any other health and safety hazard, like we would with a musculoskeletal problem or anything else… It’s not going away. It’s not something that were going to be able to ignore.”
The problem in construction seems to be greater than in most other industries. Suicide is the biggest killer of men under the age of 50 in the UK, which is reflective of the demographic in construction. A lot of attention is given to falls from height or even skin cancer when the weather turns warmer, but sometimes the elephant in the room is not addressed.
Musculoskeletal
On the other hand, musculoskeletal health cases appear to be on a downward trend. We can see the rate of estimated self reported work related musculoskeletal disorders dipped when manual handling regulations came in to effect in 1992, followed by a fairly steady decline in the years after this.
Fatal and Non-fatal Injuries
In 2020/21 there were 142 workers killed at work, which had increased from the previous year’s 111. Whilst this seems to be the first time in a while that fatal injuries has increased, historically fatal injuries are going down overall in the long term since 1900 whilst being broadly flat in recent years. That being said, there are estimated to be 13,000 deaths each year linked to exposure to agents while at work.
Of the 51,211 non fatal injuries to employees as reported by employers in 2020/21, 33% of these were from slips, trips and falls, 18% from handling lifting or carrying, 10% from being struck by a moving object, 8% from falls from a height, and another 8% from acts of violence.
Agriculture, forestry and fishing, construction, accommodation and food service activities and wholesale and retail trade had statistically significantly higher injury rates than for all industries, with agriculture, forestry and fishing having the highest rates overall. Why is it that agriculture, forestry, and fishing had statistically higher injury rates than for all other industries? It could be argued that perhaps the reason is due to the culture of acceptance of accidents within agriculture, and possibly the fact that farm worker’s work and home lives are so often intertwined.
If any of the issues raised in this article affect your workplace, get in touch to find out how Compass can assist your business, or view our mental health and wellbeing training courses.
