Non-fatal
injuries at work in Great Britain
693,000
Workers sustained a non-fatal injury according to self-reports from the Labour Force Survey in 2019/20 (LFS)
65,427
Employee non-fatal injuries reported by employers in 2019/20 (RIDDOR)
| Workplace injuries and ill health | Estimated working days lost |
|---|---|
| Injuries with up to 7 days absence | 525000 |
| Injuries with over 7 days absence | 168000 |
Non-fatal injuries to employees by most common accident kinds
(Non-fatal injuries reported under RIDDOR 2019/20, includes those accident kinds that account for 5% or more of the total)
Non-fatal injuries reported under RIDDOR 2019/20 where accident kinds account for 5% or more of the total, Slips, trips or falls on same level 29%, Handling, lifting or carrying 19%, Struck by moving object 11%, Acts of violence 9% and falls from height 8%
| Type of injury | Percentage of injuries |
|---|---|
| Slips trips or falls on same level | 29 |
| Handling lifting or carrying | 19 |
| Struck by moving object | 11 |
| Acts of violence | 9 |
| Falls from a height | 8 |
Rate of self-reported workplace non-fatal injury
(LFS: Estimated rate per 100,000 workers)
The rate of self-reported non-fatal injury to workers showed a generally downward trend but has been broadly flat in recent years
| Year | Self-reported workplace non-fatal injury | Lower Bound | Upper Bound |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000/01 | 3980 | 3810 | 4150 |
| 2001/02 | 3780 | 3620 | 3940 |
| 2002/03 | 3800 | 3630 | 3960 |
| 2003/04 | 3480 | 3320 | 3650 |
| 2004/05 | 3210 | 3050 | 3370 |
| 2005/06 | 3030 | 2870 | 3190 |
| 2006/07 | 3100 | 2940 | 3260 |
| 2007/08 | 2850 | 2700 | 3000 |
| 2008/09 | 2570 | 2410 | 2720 |
| 2009/10 | 2580 | 2430 | 2740 |
| 2010/11 | 2130 | 1970 | 2280 |
| 2011/12 | 2090 | 1940 | 2240 |
| 2012/13 | 2240 | 2090 | 2400 |
| 2013/14 | 2130 | 1980 | 2290 |
| 2014/15 | 2030 | 1880 | 2180 |
| 2015/16 | 2030 | 1870 | 2190 |
| 2016/17 | 1970 | 1810 | 2130 |
| 2017/18 | 1770 | 1620 | 1920 |
| 2018/19 | 1830 | 1680 | 1990 |
| 2019/20 | 2160 | 1970 | 2340 |
Trend statements
- The rate of self-reported non-fatal injury to workers showed a generally downward trend but has been broadly flat in recent years
Rate of employer-reported non-fatal injury
(RIDDOR: Rate per 100,000 employees)
Chart shows the rate of employer-related non-fatal injury in Great Britain since 1986/87
| Year | Employer reported non-fatal injury rate | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Rates for the period 1986/87 to 2011/12 | 0 | 25 | |
| 1986/87 | 620 | ||
| 1987/88 | 608 | ||
| 1988/89 | 605 | ||
| 1989/90 | 602 | ||
| 1990/91 | 588 | ||
| 1991/92 | 570 | ||
| 1992/93 | 540 | ||
| 1993/94 | 519 | ||
| 1994/95 | 532 | ||
| 1995/96 | 494 | ||
| 1996/97 | 510 | ||
| 1997/98 | 517 | ||
| 1998/99 | 497 | ||
| 1999/00 | 482 | ||
| 2000/01 | 466 | ||
| 2001/02 | 448 | ||
| 2002/03 | 443 | ||
| 2003/04 | 456 | ||
| 2004/05 | 441 | ||
| 2005/06 | 425 | ||
| 2006/07 | 409 | ||
| 2007/08 | 391 | ||
| 2008/09 | 374 | ||
| 2009/10 | 351 | ||
| 2010/11 | 335 | ||
| 2011/12 | 319 | ||
| 2012/13 | 318 | ||
| 2013/14 | 307 | ||
| 2014/15 | 297 | ||
| 2015/16 | 277 | ||
| 2016/17 | 267 | ||
| 2017/18 | 265 | ||
| 2018/19 | 258 | ||
| 2019/20 | 238 | ||
Trend statements
- The rate of non-fatal injury to employees reported by employers shows a downward trend.
Notes
The Labour Force Survey (LFS) provides the most complete estimate of workers sustaining a non-fatal injury at work, regardless of whether time off work was taken (based on self-reports by workers).
This data is supplemented with reports by employers of workplace injuries under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR). RIDDOR requires employers to report certain workplace non-fatal injuries, generally the more serious (those that result in more than 7 days absence from work or specified on a pre-defined list of injuries). It is known that employers substantially under-report these non-fatal injuries: current levels of overall employer reporting of RIDDOR defined non-fatal injuries to employees is estimated at around a half. Any comparisons between different subsets within RIDDOR data (eg comparisons between one industrial sector and another) need to take account of the possibility of there being markedly different reporting levels in the subsets being compared.
LFS data has several advantages over RIDDOR including: data are available for all workplace injuries, irrespective of time off work; they are not subject to the substantial under-reporting that affects RIDDOR; and they are not affected by changes in legislation. However, RIDDOR provides greater richness in terms of details about the injury sustained.
Disruption to the economy towards the end of 2019/20 due to the emergence of COVID-19 as a national health issue had the potential to have impacted on workplace injury and work-related ill health data for 2019/20. A paper setting out the issues in more detail along with results of analysis of the headline data from the Labour Force Survey and RIDDOR found that COVID-19 does not appear to be the main driver of changes seen in the latest year's data.