Half Of Workplace Harm Incidents Go Unreported

The figures come from the latest edition of the Lloyd’s Register Foundation World Risk Poll, and are explored further in its latest report: Engineering safer workplaces: Global trends in occupational safety and health. The data was collected by global analytics firm Gallup, who conducted 147,000 interviews in 142 countries and territories around the world.

Nearly one in five (18%) workers have experienced harm at work globally, down 1% on the past two editions of the poll since it began in 2019.

While only half (51%) of the workers globally who experienced harm at work say they reported it, the report also establishes an important relationship between OSH training and reporting rates. The more recently people have had training, the more likely they are to report workplace harm if they experience it. Individuals who had received workplace safety training in the last two years are 3.3 times more likely to report harm, compared to those who had never received any. Those who were trained, but not in the past two years, are 1.8 times more likely.

Worryingly, the data shows that almost two thirds of the global workforce (62%) have never received occupational safety and health (OSH) training about risks associated with their work.

“Amid all the discussion about the plethora of tools and methods available to reduce harm, it is shocking to be confronted with the fact that a majority of the global workforce has never received any occupational safety and health training,” says Martin Cottam, Chair of ISO Technical Committee 283 on Occupational Health and Safety Management.

According to the data, rates of harm vary greatly across sectors, with fishing named as the most dangerous occupation, just ahead of construction and mining. Low- and lower-middle-income countries were also found to have higher workplace harm rates (19% and 22%, respectively).

Several aggravating factors are identified in the report. Those in less stable forms of employment, such as part-time employees, were found to be more likely to suffer from harm than full-time employees (20% versus 15%). This is compounded by the fact that rates of training were found to be lower for part-time employees – less than a quarter (23%) had received workplace safety training in the past two years, compared to 41% of full-time employees.

Nancy Hey, Director of Evidence and Insight at Lloyd’s Register Foundation, says low reporting rates, combined with a potential lack of awareness due to low training rates, mean that the true extent of workplace harm is rarely revealed.

“That’s why safety and health interventions that are both regular and tailored must be a priority for both businesses and policymakers, along with clear reporting tools for all employees – including both part-time and full-time. Special efforts must be made to reach those most at risk and ensure they have a holistic understanding of what safety and health means, as well as an in-depth knowledge of essential procedures in place to keep them safe.”

The full 2024 World Risk Poll report, ‘Engineering safer workplaces: Global trends in occupational safety and health’, can be accessed here: https://wrp.lrfoundation.org.uk/publications/engineering-safer-workplaces-global-trends-in-occupational-safety-and-health

About Lloyd’s Register Foundation

Lloyd’s Register Foundation is an independent global safety charity that supports research, innovation, and education to make the world a safer place. Its mission is to use the best evidence and insight, such as the World Risk Poll, to help the global community focus on tackling the world’s most pressing safety and risk challenges.

About the World Risk Poll

The World Risk Poll is the first and only global, nationally representative study of worry about, and harm from, risks to people’s safety.

The new edition of the Poll, which is conducted every two years, is based on 147,000 interviews conducted by Gallup in 142 countries and territories throughout 2023 and covers places where little to no official data on safety and risks exist. It measures 120 of the same countries surveyed in the previous Poll in 2021.

In 2024, the issues covered include severe weather and climate change resilience, workplace safety, and waste management. Previous Polls have included risks such as workplace violence and harassment, and AI and data misuse.

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