Statistics highlighting key dangers in the workplace have been released by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
These dangers include things such as contracted illness as well as injuries and sustained.
According to the figures, more than 1.2 million people suffered with some form of illness during the last year, with just over half a million of those employees developing a new ailment during that time.
Another 800,000 people that had already been out of work for over a year were also ill due to a past employment.
Of the newly-acquired illnesses 34% were musculoskeletal in nature, while almost 46% were related to stress, depression or anxiety.
There are around 8,000 occupational cancer deaths each year. 50% of these deaths are caused by previous workplace exposure to asbestos that led to either lung cancer or mesothelioma. Close to 2,500 people die from mesothelioma each year and these fatalities are expected to peak in 2017 before seeing a steady decline.
The HSE study also examines workplace fatalities, with 133 deadly injuries recorded so far for 2013-14.
Slips and trips were the most common kind of accident (28%), followed by those incurred while handling, lifting or carrying (24%), while another 10% were due to being hit by moving objects.
Despite such concerning figures, the UK’s health and safety performance is equal to, or in most cases, superior to that of 27 other European countries in terms of injuries, fatalities and work-related illness recorded.
The report also examines the number of working days lost due to illness and the economic cost that this has upon the UK. 28.2 million working days were lost due to injury and illness from 2013 -14, of which 23.5 million were because of illness and 4.7 million were due to injury.
