The price workers paid in 2020/21

摘要

The year to 1 April 2021 saw increases in the numbers and rates of workers suffering from work-related ill health or who were killed in incidents at work, but decreases in the numbers and rates of non-fatal injuries to workers. The statistics, however, have to be read against the backdrop of COVID-19, with the whole of the reporting year subject to combinations of lockdowns and restrictions that left some businesses temporarily or permanently closed or operating with COVID-19 safeguards in place, and many people furloughed or working from home for some or all of the year. The HSE cautions that COVID-19 has meant that for many statistics, particularly non-fatal injuries, which are an under-estimate, and shorter latency ill health conditions, "it is not possible to make meaningful statistical assessments of trend across the most recent years".