The 2024-2025 Annual Health and Safety Executive statistics and what they mean for employers and EL insurers
It is that time of year again when the HSE publish their annual statistics on workplace fatalities and employee illness – a useful tool in tracking the trends in workforce health and workplace safety - Key figures for Great Britain 2024 to 2025 - HSE. The annual statistics cover work-related ill health and workplace injuries for 2024/25 and are drawn from a number of sources including RIDDOR submissions, the Labour Force Survey and Health and Safety Executive (HSE) Costs to Britain Model.
The headline statistics continue to suggest a significant prevalence of work-related injuries and illness in Great Britain which clearly have implications for employers and their insurers. However, scrutiny of the details highlights a range of issues, some of which are grounds for cautious optimism whilst other aspects highlight ever-increasing problems.
Summary
- 124 workers killed in work-related incidents in 2024/2025 down from 138 in 2023/2024 with the rate longer term also showing a downward trend.
- 92 members of the public killed in work-related accidents in 2024/2025.
- 59,219 injuries to employees reported under RIDDOR in 2024/2025 (down from 61,663 in 2023/2024).
- 680,000 working people sustaining an injury at work according to self-reports from the Labour Force Survey (up from 604,000 last year).
- 1.9 million work-related ill health cases (new and longstanding) in 2024/2025 (up from 1.7million in 2023/2024), including
- 964,000 work-related cases of stress, anxiety and depression (up from 776,000 in 2023/2024) and
- 511,000 work-related musculoskeletal disorders (down from 543,000 in 2023/2024).
- 40.1 million working days lost due to work-related ill health and non-fatal injuries (a stark rise from 33.7 million working days in 2023/2024).
As well as the human suffering involved, all of this comes at a heavy price to the British economy, with the latest survey estimating an annual cost of £22.9 billion for work-related injury and ill health, up from £21.7 billion in the previous year and up from £16.2 billion just four years before.
Worker fatalities
The statistics highlight interesting regional variations, with fatal injury rates highest in Scotland, Wales and the North West of England. When one looks at the prevalence of fatality rates by industry it is perhaps not surprising that the Construction sector sees the highest rate by some margin (35), followed by Agriculture/Foresty (23), and Transportation & Storage (15), albeit the low rates for Waste and Recycling may surprise when one considers that several insurers have avoided underwriting such risks in recent years. Bearing in mind these industries, the most common causes are probably not a surprise, with the most prevalent cause being falls from height (35) followed by strikes from a moving object (18) and traps caused by something collapsing or overturning (17).
Non-fatal injury
Notwithstanding the current year statistics, the rate of self-reported non-fatal injuries has remained broadly static over the past three years and the rate of non-fatal RIDDOR-reported injuries to employees reported by employers has shown a downward trend over recent years, which is good news. The shift though between RIDDOR and self-reported injuries may suggest a shift in working practices such as hybrid working, or less conventional employment models.
Violence at work
The HSE statistics document 689,000 incidents of violence at work in 2024/2025, (53.7% assaults and 46.3% threats) with 329,000 adults recording having experienced violence at work (suggesting multiple incidents per person), according to the Crime Survey of England and Wales. Both figures are an increase on those of the previous year (642,000 and 279,000 respectively). Whilst perhaps not surprising that the rate of violence is still highest in protective service occupations, followed by health and social care, it is perhaps a little more surprising that Transport and Sales occupations are on a par.
Workplace mental health
Of the total 1.9 million work-related ill health cases in 2024/2025, 964,000 new and longstanding cases (52%) relate to stress, depression or anxiety. This is higher than the rate of 776,000 in 2023/2024 and higher even that the total of 857,000 in 2022/2023. Indeed, the rates in each of the three last years are higher than the 2018/2019 pre-coronavirus level, suggesting a growing mental health crisis in recent years. The sectors most impacted continue to be Public Administration, Human Health/Social Work, and Education.
Occupational lung disease
2024/2025 saw 11,000 lung disease deaths related in whole or in part to past occupational exposure with the majority attributable to COPD, 20% to mesothelioma, 20% to asbestos related cancer and 22% to non-asbestos related lung cancer. The latest survey records a fall from 12,000 lung disease deaths in the prior year, albeit with the split remaining broadly consistent.
Annual mesothelioma deaths are broadly expected to continue to reduce over the period 2024 to 2040, with current statistics suggesting we are now passed the peak. However, asbestos still remains a key priority for the HSE as set out in their earlier published 2025/2026 business plan, continuing to address the country’s asbestos legacy through targeted awareness raising along with inspections and investigations.
Work-related musculoskeletal disorders
The statistics show 511,000 worker suffering from work related musculoskeletal disorders in 2024/2025, with 7.1 million working days loss to these conditions. Interestingly, prior to the pandemic, the rate of self-reported disorders was showing a downward trend, which levelled off during the coronavirus years but has now returned to similar pre-pandemic levels.
What our subject matter experts say
Peter Forshaw (Head of Casualty Claims at Weightmans) and Peter Ward (specialist occupational disease solicitor) comment:
“The decline in fatalities, RIDDOR-reportable injuries and cases of musculoskeletal injuries are to be welcomed as a positive sign in 2025. However, of greater significance and concern, is the rise in injuries at work, and the ever-increasing number of cases of stress and other mental health conditions with the resultant cost to business. Aside from the logistical problems that such absences create to employers, and whilst there has been no sign of a corresponding rise in claims to date, the risk of that on the horizon resulting from this most recent deterioration in the nation’s health with the resultant increase in indemnity spend, must now be a real concern for EL insurers.”
James Muller (specialist solicitor in Health and Safety enforcement) says:
“HSE will likely see the decrease in workplace fatalities as a sign that its current enforcement strategy is working and is acting as a driver for businesses to improve safety. Businesses in the highest risk industries of construction, agriculture and transportation, need to ensure that risk assessment and safety continues to be a priority, even in the current economic climate where there is pressure to keep costs down. The increase in mental health absences will likely provide an impetus for HSE to increase its enforcement in this area, and we might even see the first HSE enforcement in the near future (see Can HSE prosecute in relation to workplace stress? | Weightmans for more on this topic).”
Weightmans’ unique level of expertise in both civil claims and regulatory investigations arising from such workplace fatalities, injuries and ill-health offers both insurers and businesses an unrivalled complete service when such issues do unfortunately arise.
