September 17, 2004—The UK’s Health & Safety Executive (HSE) recently published new statistics on work-related ill health in Great Britain. The figures, highlighted in Occupational Health Statistics Bulletin 2003/04, draw on the latest data from specialist doctors in The Health and Occupation Reporting (THOR) network and other sources.
Key statistics include:
- The most common types of work-related illness were musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs)—in particular those affecting the back and upper limbs—and mental ill health (mainly stress, depression, and anxiety). Each of these accounted for around a third of the total incidence.
- The jobs carrying the highest risks of MSDs were: metal plate workers, shipwrights, and riveters, with an annual average incidence rate approximately 40 times the average for all occupations; typists (18 times the average); and road construction operatives (16 times).
- The highest incidence rate of work-related mental ill health in 2001-03 was among NCOs and other ranks in the UK armed forces, at around 15 times the overall average, followed by medical practitioners (12 times).
- Other types of ill health with significant numbers of cases reported by doctors or compensated by the government were lung diseases such as asthma and pneumoconiosis; contact dermatitis and other skin diseases; diarrhoeal and other infections; and disorders related to vibration or noise.
- Vehicle spray painters had the highest estimated incidence rate for occupational asthma in 2001-03, at roughly 80 times the average for all occupations. Floral arrangers/florists had the highest rate for contact dermatitis (14 times the average), and care assistants/home caregivers for occupational infections (25 times the average).
- Each year an estimated 6,000 people die from cancer due to past exposures at work. In 2002 over 1,800 people died from mesothelioma, a cancer caused mainly by occupational exposure to asbestos, and at least as many again from asbestos-related lung cancer. Around 100 died from asbestosis and nearly 300 from other types of pneumoconiosis, mostly associated with coal dust and silica.
- In 2001-2003 an estimated 23,000 new cases per year were seen by specialist doctors in the THOR network, while nearly 8,000 per year were assessed for compensation under the Department for Work and Pensions’ Industrial Injuries Scheme. Overall, at the last count in 2001/2, an estimated 2.3 million people were suffering from an illness which they believed was caused or made worse by their current or past work (based on the 2001/02 Self-reported Work-related Illness survey).
The Occupational Health Statistics Bulletin 2003/04 is available on the HSE Web site. “HSE Statistics” also offers more detailed data and commentaries.
