As with politics, it seems that the public are blissfulyl unaware of the realities of workplace death, injuriies and illness.
Only a small proportion (7%) of the public are aware that 12,000 or more workers die each year from health conditions contracted at work. However, the online survey confirms that a majority recognise stress (59%) as the work-related ill health issue that has the most new cases each year.
Croner commissioned the research to test public understanding of occupational health issues.
The Health and Safety Executive estimates that more than 12,000 deaths in Britain each year are due to illness arising from past exposure at work, mostly to chemicals and dusts. This compares with about 170 fatalities annually from injuries sustained while working. Yet, even these figures are grossely underestimated, as the National Audit Office have found.
In Croner’s YouGov survey, people were told this latter figure, and asked to choose their ‘best estimate’ of the corresponding total for illness-related deaths. They were given a range of options, up to 12,000+, but only a small minority (7%) answered correctly.
More than one in three (36%) think that fewer than 500 deaths are caused by work-related illness each year. Half (50%) believe the annual toll is less than a thousand fatalities – and 16% choose the ‘Don’t know’ option.
The public have a better understanding of the most common types of illness afflicting workers, however.
A majority (59%) rightly identify stress – from a given list – as the work-related ill health issue with the most new cases per year. According to Health & Safety Executive (HSE) statistics, more than 350,000 new cases of work-related stress arise each year.
But surprisingly, similar numbers of people (around one in ten) believe that cancer (12%) and musculoskeletal disorders (11%) are the most frequently diagnosed health problems that arise in the workplace. Musculoskeletal disorders include back strain from manual handling, RSI (repetitive strain injury) and postural problems among desk-workers. In reality, such upper limb and body disorders – with some 141,000 new cases each year – are just over 10 times more common than cancer.
Other work-related illnesses include skin disease, vibration-related conditions and hearing loss.
“For most people, including many employers, health and safety still tends to focus on accident prevention,” says Stephen Thomas, Safety Technical Consultant at Croner. “It’s Health & Safety with a small ‘h’, so occupational health is more likely to be overlooked.”
In 2013, the HSE has promised to make occupational health one of its priority campaign themes for the year – an initiative welcomed by Mr Thomas.
“Although rates of work-related illness have generally reduced over the last decade, this is still a major problem in the UK,” he says. In 2011/12 an estimated 1.1 million people in work were suffering from a work-related illness, according to the Government’s annual Labour Force Survey. Of these, more than 450,000 were new cases diagnosed in that year.
The YouGov survey’s findings on stress at work are also interesting, the Croner Safety Technical Consultant adds.
“Stress is well recognised as a cause of occupational ill health, but the indications are that many employers are still not effectively managing it.”
In a separate pan-European opinion poll for the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work early this year, four in ten workers said stress was not handled well in their workplace1. According to insurer Legal & General, only 17% of employers have any form of stress management advice and support in place for their employees2.
“Although workplace injuries can be tragic, life-changing events, occupational illness is a much bigger threat to UK business and its workforce. This research demonstrates that the true scale of the problem is largely underestimated and illustrates why employers need to be more proactive in protecting the health of their workers,” concludes Mr Thomas.
Source: Croner /
Health and Safety Zone
