Comparisons with other countries
The UK compares favourably to other European countries in health and safety standards...
| Member state | Fatal injuries at work |
|---|---|
| Cyprus | 3.76 |
| France | 3.07 |
| Latvia | 2.93 |
| Lithuania | 2.89 |
| Luxembourg | 2.79 |
| Romania | 2.59 |
| Croatia | 1.96 |
| Bulgaria | 1.92 |
| Portugal | 1.73 |
| Belgium | 1.69 |
| Greece | 1.57 |
| Spain | 1.49 |
| Czechia | 1.49 |
| Hungary | 1.45 |
| Austria | 1.35 |
| EU-27 average | 1.27 |
| Slovenia | 1.23 |
| Switzerland * | 1.19 |
| Estonia | 1.12 |
| Italy | 1.04 |
| Poland | 1.03 |
| Denmark | 0.93 |
| Slovakia | 0.79 |
| Netherlands | 0.77 |
| Sweden | 0.66 |
| United Kingdom * | 0.61 |
| Malta | 0.59 |
| Finland | 0.56 |
| Germany | 0.55 |
| Ireland | 0.45 |
| Norway * | 0.42 |
(Eurostat, ESAW 2018, http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/)
| Member state | Worker non-fatal injuries |
|---|---|
| Switzerland * | 3.6 |
| Finland | 3.2 |
| France | 2.8 |
| Austria | 2.7 |
| Luxembourg | 2.3 |
| Iceland * | 2.2 |
| Portugal | 2.2 |
| Spain | 1.8 |
| Belgium | 1.7 |
| Sweden | 1.6 |
| Czechia | 1.6 |
| EU-27 average | 1.5 |
| Italy | 1.3 |
| Denmark | 1.3 |
| Norway * | 1.2 |
| Cyprus | 1.2 |
| Slovenia | 1.1 |
| Germany | 1.1 |
| United Kingdom * | 1.0 |
| Slovakia | 1.0 |
| Poland | 1.0 |
| Greece | 1.0 |
| Ireland | 0.9 |
| Estonia | 0.9 |
| Netherlands | 0.8 |
| Malta | 0.8 |
| Romania | 0.5 |
| Hungary | 0.5 |
| Lithuania | 0.5 |
| Croatia | 0.5 |
| Bulgaria | 0.5 |
| Latvia | 0.4 |
(Eurostat, EU/UK LFS, 2020, http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat)
| Member state | Worker ill health |
|---|---|
| Poland | 12.8 |
| Luxembourg | 8.5 |
| Sweden | 8.0 |
| Austria | 8.0 |
| Iceland * | 7.1 |
| Norway * | 6.9 |
| Switzerland * | 6.2 |
| Belgium | 6.2 |
| France | 5.3 |
| Netherlands | 4.9 |
| Denmark | 4.7 |
| EU-27 | 4.7 |
| Germany | 4.3 |
| Spain | 4.0 |
| Portugal | 3.8 |
| Estonia | 3.8 |
| Slovakia | 3.6 |
| Latvia | 3.3 |
| United Kingdom * | 3.3 |
| Czechia | 3.2 |
| Slovenia | 2.9 |
| Romania | 2.4 |
| Italy | 2.4 |
| Finland | 2.0 |
| Ireland | 2.0 |
| Croatia | 1.8 |
| Hungary | 1.6 |
| Cyprus | 1.6 |
| Lithuania | 1.5 |
| Greece | 1.4 |
| Malta | 1.1 |
| Bulgaria | 1.1 |
(Eurostat, EU/UK LFS, 2020, http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/)
More information on comparisons with other countries
Health and safety systems differ across Europe in recording, reporting and enforcement. Thus, the European Statistical Office (Eurostat) publishes data on work-related fatalities, ill health and workplace non-fatal injuries in as standardised a form as possible to account for these differences. Data available from Eurostat shows the UK's historical performance is favourable compared to countries across Europe, with relatively low rates of work-related fatalities, injuries and ill health.
- In 2018, the UK standardised fatality rate of 0.61 per 100,000 workers was amongst the lowest of all European countries and compares favourably with most large economies, such as France, Italy, Spain and Poland. Germany had a lower rate at 0.55 per 100,000 workers
- In 2020, the UK rates2 of non-fatal workplace injuries and work-related ill health, resulting in time off work, compared favourably with many European countries
- Supporting data is also available from surveys conducted by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound) and the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA). These reveal that most UK workers are confident that their job does not put their health or safety at risk. Additionally, UK businesses are more likely to have a health and safety policy, and to follow this up with formal risk assessment, compared to other European countries
Notes
- The overall GB rate of fatal injuries published by HSE for 2018/19 was 0.46 per 100,000 workers; the standardised rate published by Eurostat accounts for variation in industry composition across European countries. Back to reference of footnote 1
- See the full European Comparisons document for further technical details on the 2020 Labour Force Survey (LFS) figures for the UK. Back to reference of footnote 2
The EU-27 average comparator uses the 27 countries in the European Union (EU) from 2020 onwards and so excludes the United Kingdom. Data for non-EU countries are suffixed with * in charts.