One in ten people have sustained an injury in the work place in the past five years, according to new research1 from AXA Insurance.
Employee injuries are most likely to be caused by work-related accidents (81%), for example, using machinery and tripping over. But eight per cent of work-related injuries sustained by employees resulted from a physical assault by either a customer or colleague.
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 to 250 employees).
Like SMEs, 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 were most likely to have a fall whilst doing their job (47%) compared to 28% of 18-29 year olds and nearly one in ten of those injured UK employees (9%) complain of Repetitive Strain Inquiry (RSI) or other injuries caused by the working environment.
Douglas Barnett, Risk Control Strategy Manager at AXA said: "These findings should make worrying reading for the business community. Accidents and injuries sustained in the workplace can be extremely costly for companies – through employees having to take time off work to recover or because of compensation pay outs.
"In light of this, we are advising businesses, of all shapes and sizes, to assess the potential risks and dangers that the working environment may pose to their employees and ensure that they have stringent health and safety procedures in place."
