How costly is illness and injury?

In 2022/23, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) estimated that 35.2 million working days were lost in the UK due to work-related illness and injury. 31.5 million days were lost through illness, with stress, depression, or anxiety accounting for 17.1 million days and musculoskeletal disorders accounting for 6.6 million days. 3.7 million days were lost through injury.
The average number of days lost per person was 15.8 days, with 6.6 days for injuries, 17.8 days for ill health, 19.6 days for stress, depression, or anxiety, and 13.9 days for musculoskeletal disorders. Even before the pandemic, these numbers were increasing and post-pandemic, they are even higher.

The HSE put the cost of workplace injury and illness at c. £20.7bn for the last year of reported data from 2023. This is made up of £7.7bn costs for workplace injuries and £13.1bn for sickness. The reasoning suggested for ill health to cost more than injury is it generally leads to more absence days off work, costing more to employers, businesses, and the government. The same report estimated £7.2bn is lost in productivity costs to businesses for days lost to sickness and injury.
These costs really highlight why delivering a healthier workforce is of huge organisational value. So, how can occupational health help?

Occupational health: Promoting a safe and healthy work environment

As an employer it’s important to understand the hazards in the workplace, be able to undertake a robust risk assessment and put in place meaningful control measures in order to manage risks to the workforce. Where a residual risk to health is likely, an effective health surveillance programme acts as a back stop to tell you when to review your risk assessment and controls. And that’s where occupational health and the specialty of health surveillance come in.

Here are just a few of the benefits to both employees and employers.

Early detection: Through health surveillance programmes, occupational health can monitor employees for early signs of work-related health issues (like hearing loss, respiratory problems, musculoskeletal disorders or skin conditions) and prevent conditions from worsening and creating long-term health problems.

Prevention of illness and injury: Risk management helps to proactively identify, assess, and control hazards that could cause injuries or illnesses among employees. Occupational health practitioners can identify and mitigate risks associated with physical, chemical, biological, and ergonomic factors.

Increased productivity and employee engagement: Employees who see the value of workplace health initiatives tend to feel more valued. This can improve morale and foster a culture of trust and engagement, as employees recognise the commitment to their well-being.

Fewer injuries and illnesses reduce absenteeism: It’s another productivity benefit. Managing risks effectively leads to fewer workplace illnesses and injuries, reducing absenteeism. What’s more, occupational health can identify the adjustments needed that help employees return to the workplace which in turn bring further health benefits.

Building a culture of health and safety: Occupational health practitioners contribute to a positive safety culture by encouraging employees to be proactive about their health and safety. They help embed safe work practices which can have a lasting impact on overall workplace culture.

Workplace Health Surveillance

Health surveillance in the workplace isn’t just a box-ticking exercise; it’s an important way to protect employees’ health. Employers need to make sure there is a clear link between work tasks and possible health risks before they start any kind of surveillance program. The good news? This is a much easier process than it sounds. Health surveillance programmes only need a few important things: tried-and-tested detection methods, a reasonable likelihood of health effects, and the potential to actually protect workers’ health.

The key to success lies in having a solid policy that everyone agrees on. This means that workers and management need to agree on who is in charge of what, how results will be handled, and what will happen if health problems are found. And here’s something that many businesses forget: getting informed consent from workers isn’t just a good idea; it’s necessary for trust and compliance.

The ‘Hierarchy of Controls’ of managing risk at work

One of the ways that occupational health professionals can manage risk is through the hierarchy of controls. This is a widely used systematic approach based on prioritising the most effective methods to protect workers from hazards. It consists of five levels, ranked from the most effective to the least effective in terms of long-term risk reduction.

Elimination: Physically remove the hazard
Substitution: Replace the hazard
Engineering controls: Isolate people from the hazard
Administrative controls: Change the way people work
Personal protective equipment (PPE): Protect the worker with equipment

Often, you’ll need to combine control methods to best protect workers. This link will take you to a paper that gives practical examples of how these controls apply to the workplace. It’s a collaborative process and successful implementation happens when occupational health identify hazards and control risks in collaboration with the workers themselves.

The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999

The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 say that health surveillance is often required by law in the UK. It’s not just a choice that employers make. Statutory health surveillance starts when people at work are exposed to noise, vibration, ionising radiation, solvents, fumes, dusts, biological agents, or other dangerous substances. Occupational health practitioners help organisations meet these requirements, ensuring legal adherence and reducing liability. This includes supporting employers in undertaking suitable risk assessment and implementing effective control measures through the consideration of the health and safety of employees and others who may be affected by the organisation’s work. Further details from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

In conclusion

For the occupational health practitioner, health surveillance knowledge is key to the prevention of work related ill health and the promotion of a fitter and healthier workplace.

These practices ensure both the physical safety of employees and the operational resilience of the organisation. All of which makes health surveillance one of the most dynamic areas of occupational health impacting on safety, productivity and ultimately helping to create a culture that priorities workplace health and that saves lives.

Improve your health surveillance skill sets

The EOPH conference ‘Putting Health back into Health Surveillance’ takes place on the 14th of February 2025 in Birmingham. A range of speaker sessions will include experts in health surveillance topics inc. respiratory, skin surveillance, HAVS, hearing and how to monitor the effectiveness of risk management controls. See more details in our advert and visit our website to book: https://eoph.co.uk/training/