Help us to improve the website - give your feedback.

Noise induced hearing loss in Great Britain

This summary presents statistics based on annual new assessments for IIDB up to and including year 2023.

12,000

Estimated number of workers with work-related hearing problems, 2021/22 to 2023/241

Source: LFS

100

New cases of occupational deafness in 2023

Source: IIDB

New cases of occupational deafness in Great Britain from 2010 to 2023
Line chart with 14 data points.
End of interactive chart.

Source: Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB)[26]

Male / Female split of new cases for occupational deafness from 2014 to 2023

  • Over the last ten years, five of the 745 cases were female.
  • Differences are likely to reflect smaller numbers of women having worked in jobs that meet the eligibility criteria for this condition.

More information on Noise Induced Hearing Loss in Great Britain

There is limited information available on work-related noise induced hearing loss. The Labour Force Survey (LFS) is HSE's preferred data source and the Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB) scheme is a further source of information. These sources present very different estimates.

The LFS provides the estimated number of prevalent cases of self-reported work-related ‘hearing problems’, which includes both new and longstanding cases fitting this general description of the issue:

There were an estimated 12,000 (95% confidence interval: 6,000 – 17,000) prevalent cases of hearing problems each year caused or made worse by work according to the LFS averaged over the last three years (2021/22 – 2023/24).

IIDB figures include only annual new assessed claims and these are based on a much stricter definition of ‘deafness’ in which claimants must have a substantial measured loss of hearing in both ears (greater than 50 dB). 

  The IIDB scheme will also tend to underestimate annual incidence for other reasons, including:

  • Cases arising from circumstances other than those covered by the terms of the prescription;
  • Individuals being unaware of the possible occupational origin of their disease;
  • A lack of knowledge regarding the availability of compensation; and
  • The scheme not including self-employed workers.

More information on the strengths and limitations of the LFS and IIDB as data sources is available on the HSE statistics website[27].

More information:

Notes

  1. Includes workers with new and longstanding hearing problems. Estimated using three years of the Labour Force Survey from 2020/21 to 2022/23. Back

Link URLs in this page

  1. Statisticshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/index.htm
  2. Statistics A - Zhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/a-z.htm
  3. Index of data tableshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/tables/index.htm
  4. Ill healthhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/causdis/index.htm
  5. Overview - COVID-19https://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/coronavirus/index.htm
  6. Management informationhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/coronavirus/management-information.htm
  7. Overview - Fatal injurieshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/fatals.htm
  8. Latest quarterly fatal injury figureshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/fatalquarterly.htm
  9. Overview - Non-fatal injuryhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/causinj/index.htm
  10. Violence at workhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/causinj/violence/index.htm
  11. Costs to Britainhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/cost.htm
  12. Industrieshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/industry/index.htm
  13. Countries and regions of Britainhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/regions/index.htm
  14. Comparisons with other countrieshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/european/index.htm
  15. Historical picturehttps://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/history/index.htm
  16. Overview - About HSE Statisticshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/about.htm
  17. Data sourceshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/sources.htm
  18. Overview - National statistics policieshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/about/index.htm
  19. Revisionshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/about/revisions/index.htm
  20. Confidentiality policyhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/about/confidentiality.htm
  21. Overview - User engagementhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/about/engagement/index.htm
  22. Reports from previous user consultationshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/about/engagement/previous-consultations.htm
  23. Quality guidelineshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/about/quality-guidelines.htm
  24. Statement of administrative sourceshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/about/administrative-sources.htm
  25. Research and ad hoc analysishttps://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/resources.htm
  26. Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB)https://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/sources.htm
  27. HSE statistics websitehttps://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/sources.htm
  28. Data sourceshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/sources.htm
  29. Index of tableshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/tables/index.htm
  30. Types of illness (LFSILLTYP): Prevalence (annual, three-year average) – for people working in the last 12 monthshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/assets/docs/lfsilltyp.xlsx
  31. IIDB01: New cases of lung diseases in England, Wales and Scotland by diseasehttps://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/assets/docs/iidb01.xlsx
  32. IIDB05: New cases by disease and industry, 3 year average for the latest yearshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/assets/docs/iidb05.xlsx

Is this page useful?

Updated 2024-11-19