Occupational Health Audit and Policy Adivice

Sickness absence is costing UK industry £13 billion per year, as the average employee took all most seven (6.7) days off sick. - CBI / AXA survey 2008

Each year over 2 million people suffer from ill health which they think is work-related

36 million days were lost overall, 30 million due to work related ill health and 6 million due to workplace injury.

Overall, in 2006/07 an estimated 2.2 million people were suffering from an illness which they believed was caused or made worse by their current or past work; around 640 thousand of these first became aware of the illness in the past 12 months.

… with over 20 thousand new cases each year severe enough to be seen by specialist doctors

In 2001-2003 an estimated 23 000 new cases per year were seen by specialist doctors in The Health and Occupation Reporting network, while nearly 8000 per year were assessed for compensation under the Department for Work and Pensions’ Industrial Injuries Scheme.

… and several thousand people dying each year from past exposures at work

Each year an estimated 6000 people (uncertainty range 3000 to 12 000) die from cancer due to past exposures at work. In 2005 over 2000 people died from mesothelioma, a cancer caused mainly by occupational exposure to asbestos, and at least as many again from asbestos-related lung cancer. Around 100 died from asbestosis and nearly 300 from other types of pneumoconiosis, mostly associated with coal dust and silica.

Over half of all cases of work-related illness are musculoskeletal disorders or stress …

The most common types of work-related illness were musculoskeletal disorders – in particular those affecting the back and upper limbs – and stress and other types of mental illness. Both self-reporting surveys and surveillance by specialist doctors show each of these accounting for around a third of the total incidence.

… but the total also includes diseases ranging from asthma and dermatitis to infections and deafness.

How can Bluestone Health help you?

Bluestone Health is a provider of affordable and high quality Occupational Health services to local companies acoss the Wessex region. We deliver a flexible range of pro-active, cost effective services designed to meet the needs of modern business.