Industries
Important Note
The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the government’s response has impacted recent trends in health and safety statistics published by HSE and this should be considered when comparing across time periods. More details can be found in our reports on the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on health and safety statistics.
In 2021/22 an estimated 1.8 million workers were suffering from an illness they believed was caused or made worse by their work and 565,000 workers sustained a non-fatal injury at work. [Source: Self-reports from the Labour Force Survey]. However, the risk of injury and work-related ill health varies across industry, being more likely in some industries than others.
The charts below show how the overall rates of self-reported work-related ill health and workplace injury vary between industry groups.
- The industries for which the rate is statistically significantly higher than the average are generally not the same for work-related ill health and workplace injury.
- While the chart shows the overall picture for each industry group, this may be masking differences at more detailed levels (for example, illness type or more detailed industry sub-groups).
Self-reported work-related ill health
Latest data shows the rates of self-reported work-related ill health in the following main industry sectors were statistically significantly higher than the average rate across all industries:
- human health and social work activities
- public administration and defence
Rate of work-related Ill health by industry for people working in the last 12 months (per 100,000 workers) [Note 1], [Note 2], [Note 3]
| Industry | Rate of work-related ill health | Lower CI | Upper CI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Human health/social work (Q) | 6610 | 6120 | 7100 |
| Public admin/defence (O) | 5410 | 4740 | 6080 |
| Education (P) | 4470 | 4020 | 4930 |
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing (A) | 4100 | 2710 | 5480 |
| Admin/support services (N) | 4080 | 3340 | 4830 |
| Other service activities (S) | 3900 | 2630 | 5180 |
| Construction (F) | 3690 | 3150 | 4230 |
| Wholesale/retail trade (G)* | 3410 | 3010 | 3820 |
| Finance/insurance (K) | 3370 | 2700 | 4030 |
| Accommodation/food services (I) | 3330 | 2670 | 3980 |
| Electricity/gas/other utilities (D) # | 3240 | 1880 | 4600 |
| Manufacturing (C) | 3170 | 2750 | 3590 |
| Water/sewerage/waste (E) # | 3140 | 1770 | 4500 |
| Professiona/scientific (M) | 3110 | 2640 | 3570 |
| Transportation/storage (H) | 3020 | 2450 | 3600 |
| Real estate (L) | 2940 | 1690 | 4190 |
| Information/communication (J) | 2760 | 2190 | 3320 |
| Arts/entertainment (R) | 2590 | 1850 | 3320 |
| All industries [See note 2] | 4030 | 3880 | 4180 |
Data in this chart is available at LFSILLIND – Labour Force Survey, ill health by industry
Self-reported workplace injury
Latest data shows the rates of self-reported workplace non-fatal injury in the following main industry sectors were statistically significantly higher than the average rate across all industries:
- agriculture, forestry and fishing
- construction
- accommodation and food services
- wholesale/retail trade (including motor vehicle repair)
Rate of non-fatal workplace injuries by industry for people working in the last 12 months (per 100,000 workers) [Note 1], [Note 2], [Note 3]
| Industry | Rate of non-fatal workplace injuries | Lower CI | Upper CI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing (A) | 4100 | 2600 | 5600 |
| Construction (F) | 2880 | 2390 | 3370 |
| Accommodation/food services (I) | 2420 | 1830 | 3020 |
| Transportation/storage (H) | 2080 | 1590 | 2570 |
| Wholesale/retail trade (G)* | 2060 | 1720 | 2410 |
| Manufacturing (C) | 1950 | 1610 | 2290 |
| Human health/social work (Q) | 1890 | 1620 | 2160 |
| Public admin/defence (O) | 1600 | 1250 | 1950 |
| Admin/support services (N) | 1570 | 1110 | 2030 |
| Education (P) | 1450 | 1190 | 1710 |
| Arts/entertainment (R) # | 1390 | 860 | 1920 |
| Other service activities (S) # | 900 | 510 | 1280 |
| Professional/scientific (M) | 660 | 430 | 890 |
| All industries [Note 2] | 1650 | 1550 | 1750 |
Data in this chart is available at LFSINJIND – Labour Force Survey, non-fatal injury by industry
Chart Notes
- Note 1: Industry groupings based on the section level of the 2007 Standard Industrial Classification (SIC). Industry labels on the chart include the SIC section level code in brackets. Charts display only those industries for which a reliable estimate is available.
- Note 2: Restricted to injuries/ill health in current or most recent job
- Note 3: These estimates are based on results from a survey and are subject to sampling error – i.e. a range of uncertainty in the estimate arising from the sampling process. This uncertainty is displayed as a 95% confidence interval around the estimate. The assessment of whether the rate for an individual industry is statistically significantly above or below average takes into account the sampling uncertainty around each estimate.
More detailed statistics on selected industry groups
- Agriculture, forestry and fishing
- Construction
- Education
- Human health and social work
- Manufacturing
- Public administration and defence
- Transportation and storage
- Waste
Further information can be found in the suite of health and safety statistics tables.