UK businesses must increasingly shoulder the burden of maintaining the health of staff as data from government’s Health and Safety Executive department finds that the total costs of workplace self-reported injuries and ill health in 2022/23 was £21.6bn.
This is according to Brett Hill, head of health and protection at independent consultancy Broadstone (pictured), who was commenting on the data which showed ill health caused the biggest proportion of total costs at around 67% (£14.5bn), with injury resulting in around 33% of total costs (£7.1bn).
Ill health cases typically result in more time off work on average, which drives higher costs.
An average of 581,000 workers were injured in workplace accidents each year and a further 674,000 workers suffered a new case of ill health which they believed was caused or made worse by their work, based on data from 2021/22 to 2023/24.
Hill said the figures demonstrated the “immense” burden of ill-health, in particular, on the UK economy, employers and individuals with hundreds of thousands of people every year suffering new cases of ill-health that they believe are caused or made worse through their work.
“It is a reminder of the importance of employers implementing proactive healthcare strategies, such as occupational health programmes, that can protect the health of their workforce to avoid costly absenteeism through illness or injury,” Hill continued.
“With NHS waiting lists still at record levels and unlikely to materially improve in the short-term, businesses must increasingly shoulder the burden of maintaining the health of their staff, with a clear focus on prevention and early intervention,” Hill concluded.