Personnel Today
  • OHW+
  • Resources
    • Clinical governance
    • Disability
    • Ergonomics
    • Health surveillance
    • OH employment law
    • OH service delivery
    • Research
    • Return to work and rehabilitation
    • Sickness absence management
    • Wellbeing and health promotion
  • Conditions
    • Mental health
    • Musculoskeletal disorders
    • Blood pressure
    • Cancer
    • Cardiac
    • Dementia
    • Diabetes
    • Respiratory
    • Stroke
  • CPD
  • Webinars
  • Jobs
  • Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • OHW+
  • Resources
    • Clinical governance
    • Disability
    • Ergonomics
    • Health surveillance
    • OH employment law
    • OH service delivery
    • Research
    • Return to work and rehabilitation
    • Sickness absence management
    • Wellbeing and health promotion
  • Conditions
    • Mental health
    • Musculoskeletal disorders
    • Blood pressure
    • Cancer
    • Cardiac
    • Dementia
    • Diabetes
    • Respiratory
    • Stroke
  • CPD
  • Webinars
  • Jobs
  • Personnel Today

Fit for WorkCoronavirusHealth and safetyLatest NewsHealth & Safety Executive

Work-related Covid infections up a third, HSE analysis suggests

by Nic Paton 25 Nov 2022
by Nic Paton 25 Nov 2022
Shutterstock

Shutterstock

More than 100,000 workers went down with Covid-19 in the past year which they believed they contracted in the workplace, up nearly a third, according to the latest annual statistics from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

A total of 123,000 people suffered from Covid-19 that they suspected was from exposure to coronavirus at work, the HSE said, a 32% increase on last year. The Covid figures are estimates based on self-reports from the Labour Force Survey and of people who worked in the past 12 months, it said.

The data, covering 2022, also concluded that 1.8 million working people suffered from a work-related illness in the 12-month period. Of these, 914,000 were suffering from work-related stress, depression or anxiety. However, one positive was there had been an 17.5% drop in new cases, from 451,000 to 372,000.

In all, 36.8 million working days were lost because of work-related illness and workplace injury, costing the UK economy £18.8bn, the HSE calculated. A total of 123 workers were killed in work-related accidents.

The number of workers sustaining a non-fatal injury increased by 28%, from 441,000 to 565,000.

Stress, depression and anxiety remained the leading cause of work-related ill health, accounting for 51% of all ill-health cases, the HSE said.

Health and safety

HSE to target construction sites in health and safety campaign

HSE emphasises importance of Covid ventilation

HSE enforcement of Covid-secure guidelines too ‘light touch’

A total of 477,000 workers suffered from a work-related musculoskeletal disorder (MSD). MSDs were the second most common cause of ill health, making up 27% of all cases.

However, in terms of actual figures, the number of MSD cases remained broadly flat, increasing marginally from 470,000 to 477,000.

Commenting on the figures, Nick Wilson, director of health and safety services at employment law firm WorkNest, said: “It’s interesting to see that new cases of work-related stress, depression and anxiety have fallen over the past year. This is somewhat surprising, given the various stressors people are facing at present, though, of course, not all of these are work-related.

“Still, this doesn’t change the fact that, overall, cases have increased by 11.2%, and we now know that 17.0 million working days were lost as a result – emphasising that this should remain a key area of focus for employers, not only for their staff’s sake but for the sake of business productivity too,” he added.

Separately, an analysis of workplace accident claims over the past decade by law firm First4Lawyers has indicated that back injuries are the most common work-related injury, with Birmingham revealed as workplace accident capital with a total of 809 injuries.

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

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

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

Interestingly, Sheffield was the only city to see an increase in claims over the last 10 years with an over 10% (10.14%) rise, whereas the other cities have seen a steady decline over the same period.

The firm argued this decline could largely be attributed to the Covid-19 pandemic and the increase in the number of Britons now working from home.

Nic Paton

Nic Paton is consultant editor at Personnel Today. One of the country's foremost workplace health journalists, Nic has written for Personnel Today and Occupational Health & Wellbeing since 2001, and edited the magazine from 2018.

previous post
French worker wins ‘right to be boring’ case
next post
OH overlooked in call for better support for black people with mental illness

You may also like

Uncertainty over law hampering legal use of medical...

20 May 2025

Employers ‘worryingly’ ignorant about stress risk assessments

20 May 2025

Awareness weeks fuel spike in demand for mental...

19 May 2025

Healthcare workers prioritise mental health support in new...

12 May 2025

Two-thirds of school leaders suffering mental ill health

6 May 2025

‘Healthy work’ about much more than access to...

28 Apr 2025

Tool developed for employers to calculate cost of...

28 Apr 2025

Why employers must do more to support all...

24 Apr 2025

How to help employees quit vaping before new...

22 Apr 2025

NHS urging people to check for cancer warning...

22 Apr 2025

  • 2025 Employee Communications Report PROMOTED | HR and leadership...Read more
  • The Majority of Employees Have Their Eyes on Their Next Move PROMOTED | A staggering 65%...Read more
  • Prioritising performance management: Strategies for success (webinar) WEBINAR | In today’s fast-paced...Read more
  • Self-Leadership: The Key to Successful Organisations PROMOTED | Eletive is helping businesses...Read more
  • Retaining Female Talent: Four Ways to Reduce Workplace Drop Out PROMOTED | International Women’s Day...Read more

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2025

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2025 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • OHW+
  • Resources
    • Clinical governance
    • Disability
    • Ergonomics
    • Health surveillance
    • OH employment law
    • OH service delivery
    • Research
    • Return to work and rehabilitation
    • Sickness absence management
    • Wellbeing and health promotion
  • Conditions
    • Mental health
    • Musculoskeletal disorders
    • Blood pressure
    • Cancer
    • Cardiac
    • Dementia
    • Diabetes
    • Respiratory
    • Stroke
  • CPD
  • Webinars
  • Jobs
  • Personnel Today