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Latest occupational health statistics, pulled together from the UK's piecemeal workplace disease reporting system, have been published by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). HSE says for the first time the statistics identify the contributing factors recorded by specialist doctors involved in cases of musculoskeletal disorders and mental ill-health.
In 2004 specialist doctors in the Health and Occupation Reporting (THOR) network saw an estimated 23,000 new cases. HSE says as in previous years, the most common types of work related illness were: Musculoskeletal disorders, affecting mainly the back and upper limbs, and mental ill-health, which consisted mostly of stress, depression and anxiety.
The jobs carrying the highest risks of musculoskeletal disorders, according to reports from rheumatologists in 2002-04, were: typists; metal plate workers; shipwrights and riveters; and road construction operatives, all with annual average incidence rates around 15 times the average for all occupations.
Consultant psychiatrists reported NCOs and other ranks in the UK armed forces as the occupation with the highest incidence rate of work-related mental ill health in 2002-04 at around 17 times the overall average, followed by medical practitioners (16 times). A consistent pattern in self-reporting surveys is that professional and managerial groups have the highest rates of work-related stress, anxiety or depression, particularly teachers, nurses and other public sector occupations.
In cases of work related mental ill-health reported to THOR in 2002-2004 the most commonly reported factor was simple work pressure, which was mentioned in one quarter of cases.
Highest rates of occupational asthma were in those working with flour and in vehicle spray painters. Hairdressers, barbers and beauticians had the highest rates of occupational dermatitis.
Each year an estimated 6,000 people (uncertainty range 3,000 to 12,000) die from cancer due to past exposures at work. In 2003 over 1,870 people died from mesothelioma, a cancer caused mainly by occupational exposure to asbestos, and around, as many again are likely to have died from asbestos-related lung cancer. In addition to these cancer deaths, over 100 died from asbestosis and nearly 250 from other types of pneumoconiosis, mostly associated with coal dust and silica.
According to the Trade Union Confederation (TUC), HSE's figures are incomplete and underestimate the total number of occupational diseases related to asbestos.
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