Mental Health Cases Make Up Half of UK Work-Related Illnesses

NEW FIGURES show the number of workers in Great Britain suffering a work-related illness is 1.8 million, with mental health issues making up around half of cases.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has published its annual statistics on work-related ill health and workplace injuries. The report reveals that there was an estimated 914,000 cases of work-related stress, depression, or anxiety in 2021/22.

HSE has been warning of a growing crisis in stress and poor mental health related to work. Last year, the workplace regulator launched a major campaign to remind employers of their responsibilities to their employees’ mental health.

HSE’s Chief Executive, Sarah Albon, said: “Stress and poor mental health is the number one cause of work-related ill health. The effects of stress, depression, and anxiety can have a significant impact on an employee’s life and on their ability to perform their best at work.

“Britain is one of the safest places in the world to work but we need all employers to do more and take seriously their responsibilities to support good mental health at work. That’s why improving mental health in the workplace is a key priority in our 10-year strategy ‘Protecting People and Places’, and why we’re developing new partnerships across industry to help employers support their employees.”

HSE’s annual statistics release shows the impact work-related ill health is having on Great Britain’s economic performance:

• 36.8 million working days were lost due to work-related ill health and non-fatal workplace injuries in 2021/22.
• The annual economic cost of work-related injury and new cases of ill health (excluding long latency illnesses such as cancer) was £18.8 billion in 2019/20.

The report also shows that 123 workers were killed in work-related accidents in 2021/22, and a further 565,000 workers sustained a non-fatal injury.

Additionally, an estimated 585,000 workers reported illnesses caused or made worse by the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

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