Occupational ill health costing UK economy about 28 million working days a year

Occupational ill health is costing the UK economy around 28 million working days a year, according to a new report by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE)

The Self-Reported Work-Related Illness Survey 2004-05 shows that an estimated two million UK workers suffer ill health, which they believe was caused or made worse by work.

Musculoskeletal disorders are the biggest cause of work-related ill health, with about one million people suffering disorders they believe was caused or made worse by work.

Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

Email(Required)

OptOut

From time to time, we will send you emails about selected products, events and services from Personnel Today and OHW+ - but you can choose to opt-out at any time. If you do not wish to receive these emails, please tick this box.

Name

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Δ

Stress is the next biggest complaint, with around 500,000 people estimated to be suffering work-related stress.

Geoffrey Podger, HSE chief executive, said: “This is a huge loss to the British economy. HSE is working with employers, trade unions and other government departments to bring this down.”