One in 10 Employees Injured at Work

One in 10 people has sustained an injury in the work place in the past five years, according to new research from AXA Insurance. AXA’s Study revealed that whilst employee injuries ( are most likely to be caused by work related accidents (81%), for example, using machinery and tripping over, 8% of work related injuries sustained by employees resulted from physical assault either by a customer or collegue.

Suprisingly, the professional services industry, which includes lawyers , consultants and accountants, experienced the highest level of physical assault with as many as 15% of employees working in the sector being assaulted by a customer.

The study also revealed that employees who work for large companies (250 employees or more) are almost twice as likely to suffer an injury whilst working compared to those employed by small and medium sized companies (10 – 250 employees).

Like SME’s, smaller businesses (one to nine employees) also had a better record for workplace accidents and injuries when compared with large companies – 17% of small business employees have suffered injuries at work compared to 47% in large companies.

Workplace accidents account for the most injuries at work and one third of all injuries are the result of falls or trips. Strains and sprains are the most common result of an accident – 34% of workplace accidents resulted in these types of injuries.

The AXA study also found that employees aged over 50 are most likely to fall whilst doing their job (47%) compared to 28% of 18 – 29 year olds, and nearly one in 10 of those injured UK employees (9%) complain of Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) or other injuries caused by the working environment.

Most common accidents and resulting injuries sustained in the workplace:
How accident / injury happened	Percentage of people who have suffered this in the past five years
Fall, slip or trip	33%
Kitchen accident	19%
Lifting	11%
Inappropriate working environment	9%
Industrial machinery accident	6%
Vehicle road accident	4%
Contact with dangerous substances	3%
Most common injuries sustained	Percentage of people who have suffered this in the past five years
Musculoskeletal disorder (back pain, strains and sprained muscles)	34%
Cut(s)	28%
Burn(s)	21%
Broken bone(s)	11%
Loss of mobility	6%
Headaches	4%
Knocked unconscious	3%