Occupational deaths

Around 20,000 people die annually due to occupational disease, notes the TUC’s latest bulletin in its Time for change series.

And the death toll that work takes is only a part of the picture. The Health and Safety Executive has estimated that there were 450,000 new cases of illness caused by work last year.

In total, 1.2 million people currently in work say they have suffered from ill-health that they thought was work-related. While many of these illnesses will go away quickly, many others become long-term and can remain with the person all their life.

The TUC’s message is that unions want strong regulation and enforcement aimed at preventing occupational diseases, such as stress and muskuloskeletal disorders.