The key UK statistics on hazardous substances at work — deaths, ill health, enforcement and cost — drawn from the Health and Safety Executive’s annual releases and fully sourced.
Hazardous substances remain one of the biggest causes of work-related death and illness in Great Britain: around 13,000 deaths a year are estimated to be linked to past workplace exposure, mainly to chemicals and dust. This page brings the key COSHH statistics together in one place, drawing on the Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) annual statistics suite, the Labour Force Survey and the official enforcement data published on GOV.UK. Every figure carries its data period, and every source is linked at the end of the page.
This is the umbrella page for the numbers behind the COSHH Regulations 2002. Two companion pages go deeper into the individual diseases: silica dust statistics and occupational dermatitis statistics.
Key facts and figures
- ~13,000 deaths a year in Great Britain are linked to past workplace exposure to hazardous substances, mainly chemicals and dust (HSE, 2024/25 release).
- 11,000 of those are occupational lung-disease deaths — 35% COPD, 23% non-asbestos lung cancer, 20% asbestos-related lung cancer, 20% mesothelioma (HSE, 2025).
- 1.9 million workers were suffering from work-related ill health, new or long-standing, in 2024/25.
- ~22,000 new cases of breathing or lung problems caused or made worse by work are estimated each year (2024/25).
- 1,500–3,000 people develop occupational asthma each year on HSE’s estimate.
- £22.9 billion — the estimated annual cost of workplace injuries and new cases of work-related ill health (2023/24).
- 246 prosecutions were completed by HSE in 2024/25, with a 96% conviction rate and more than £33 million in fines.
- 4,400+ enforcement notices were issued by HSE in 2024/25.
These are the latest figures available as of July 2026. HSE publishes its annual health and safety statistics every November, and this page is updated when each new release appears.
How many people die from hazardous substances at work in the UK?
Around 13,000 deaths a year in Great Britain are estimated to be linked to past exposure at work, primarily to chemicals and dust — the headline figure from HSE’s work-related ill health statistics (2024/25 release). The number is easy to misread, because almost none of these deaths happen at work. Occupational disease has a long latency: a worker who breathes in dust or fumes today may not develop symptoms for ten, twenty or forty years, so this year’s deaths largely reflect the working conditions of the 1970s, 80s and 90s.
The largest and best-measured slice is lung disease. HSE’s Occupational Lung Disease statistics report, published on 20 November 2025, estimates around 11,000 deaths a year from lung disease linked to past workplace exposures, broken down as 35% chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), 23% non-asbestos-related lung cancer, 20% asbestos-related lung cancer, 20% mesothelioma and 3% other lung diseases.
Asbestos alone therefore accounts for roughly four in ten of those lung-disease deaths — including 2,146 mesothelioma deaths in Great Britain in 2024 and around 2,500 asbestos-related lung cancer deaths a year — a story told in full in the asbestos statistics guide on our sister site.
Among the substances regulated under COSHH itself, silica dust is the single deadliest exposure. HSE-commissioned burden research attributes more than 500 construction-worker deaths a year to lung cancer caused by respirable crystalline silica. The exposure estimates, silicosis registrations and the engineered-stone enforcement story are covered in depth in our silica dust statistics page.
How many workers are made ill by hazardous substances?
1.9 million workers were suffering from work-related ill health, new or long-standing, in 2024/25, according to the Labour Force Survey estimates in HSE’s annual statistics. That total covers every cause — stress and musculoskeletal disorders make up the biggest shares — but exposure to hazardous substances drives tens of thousands of the new cases recorded each year, concentrated in two body systems: the lungs and the skin.
On the respiratory side, HSE’s 2025 occupational lung disease report estimates around 22,000 new cases each year of self-reported breathing or lung problems caused or made worse by work (2024/25 Labour Force Survey data). Within that, HSE estimates that 1,500–3,000 people develop occupational asthma each year — around 7,000 once asthma made worse by work is included. Looking across the whole population, an estimated 15–20% of adult-onset asthma and around 15% of COPD cases are linked to exposures at work.
On the skin side, an average of 16,000 people a year reported skin problems they regarded as caused or made worse by work across 2019–2022, according to HSE’s work-related skin disease statistics. Work-related contact dermatitis remains one of the most widespread COSHH outcomes, hitting catering, hairdressing, cleaning and healthcare hardest. The incidence rates, causative agents and high-risk trades are covered in our occupational dermatitis statistics page.
Which substances cause the most harm?
Around 600,000 UK workers are exposed to respirable crystalline silica each year on HSE’s estimate — the largest exposed population for any single COSHH carcinogen, and the reason silica sits at the top of HSE’s enforcement agenda. In May 2026, HSE declared dry cutting of engineered stone unacceptable and launched a programme of more than 1,000 fabricator inspections over twelve months, after more than 50 confirmed UK silicosis cases were linked to engineered stone, with at least four deaths as of 2026.
Asthmagens — substances that cause occupational asthma — are the second big respiratory family. Isocyanates, found in two-pack spray paints and some foams and adhesives, are the most common single cause of occupational asthma in Great Britain, and surveillance data shows bakers and vehicle paint sprayers have the highest incidence of any occupations. Flour dust, wood dust, solder fume and cleaning chemicals also feature prominently in physician-reported cases.
For the skin, the main culprits are wet work and repeated contact with irritants and sensitisers — detergents, foodstuffs, hairdressing chemicals, cements and metalworking fluids. These exposures rarely make headlines, but they generate thousands of dermatitis cases a year and end careers in catering, hairdressing and healthcare.
The common thread is that none of these outcomes requires a spill or an alarm. Most COSHH disease comes from routine, low-level exposure that was never assessed or controlled — which is exactly what a COSHH risk assessment exists to catch.
The key numbers at a glance
Eight measures tell the story of hazardous substances at work in Great Britain. The table below summarises the latest figure and the data period for each.
| Measure | Latest figure | Data period |
|---|---|---|
| Deaths linked to past workplace exposure (lung disease and cancer) | ~13,000 a year | Current HSE estimate, 2024/25 release |
| Occupational lung-disease deaths | ~11,000 a year | HSE report published November 2025 |
| Workers with work-related ill health (all causes) | 1.9 million | 2024/25 |
| New breathing or lung problems caused or made worse by work | ~22,000 a year | 2024/25 |
| New occupational asthma cases | 1,500–3,000 a year | Current HSE estimate |
| Cost of workplace injury and new work-related ill health | £22.9 billion | 2023/24 |
| HSE prosecutions completed (96% conviction rate) | 246 | 2024/25 |
| Enforcement notices issued by HSE | 4,400+ | 2024/25 |
How is COSHH enforced? Prosecutions, notices and fines
246 criminal prosecutions were completed by HSE in 2024/25, securing convictions in 96% of cases and more than £33 million in fines, and HSE issued more than 4,400 enforcement notices in the same year (GOV.UK Health and Safety statistics, 2024/25 annual release). Those figures cover all health and safety legislation, not COSHH alone — HSE does not publish a separate COSHH-only prosecution count. COSHH breaches are typically prosecuted either under the specific regulations (most often Regulation 6 on risk assessment, Regulation 7 on control of exposure and Regulation 9 on maintaining controls) or under the general duties of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.
Below prosecution, HSE has two notice powers. An improvement notice requires a specific failing — an overdue LEV test, a missing assessment — to be put right within a set period. A prohibition notice stops a dangerous activity immediately — uncontrolled dust from cutting and similar work is a classic trigger. HSE can also charge Fees for Intervention, billing an employer for the investigator’s time whenever a material breach is found.
Fines for health and safety offences are unlimited in both the magistrates’ court and the Crown Court, and sentencing follows the Sentencing Council’s guideline, which scales penalties by culpability, harm and the size of the organisation — for large companies in the top categories, starting points run into millions of pounds. Directors and managers can be prosecuted personally where a breach happened with their consent or through their neglect. Who carries which duty is set out in our guide to COSHH responsibilities.
What do hazardous substances cost the UK economy?
£22.9 billion is HSE’s latest estimate of the annual cost of workplace injuries and new cases of work-related ill health, from the 2023/24 cost model released alongside the November 2025 statistics. Ill health — the category all hazardous-substance disease falls into — accounts for around 72% of that total, or £16.4 billion, dwarfing the cost of workplace injury.
The costs land in three places: on individuals, through lost income and lost quality of life; on employers, through sick pay, cover, retraining and insurance; and on government, through healthcare and benefits. Because occupational disease develops slowly, most of these costs arrive years after the exposure that caused them — long after the employer responsible has stopped paying attention, and sometimes after it has stopped trading.
The health service’s own record shows how these costs accumulate case by case. NHS Resolution recorded 371 claims from NHS staff for harm from exposure to hazardous substances covering incidents between 1 April 2013 and 31 March 2023, with the closed claims alone costing £5.99 million.
Where do these figures come from?
Four official data streams supply almost every number on this page. The Labour Force Survey provides the self-reported ill health estimates (the 1.9 million and ~22,000 figures). Death certificates provide the mortality counts for mesothelioma and other lung diseases. THOR — The Health and Occupation Research network — collects diagnoses from specialist physicians, through SWORD for respiratory disease and EPIDERM for skin disease. And the Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit scheme records state-benefit assessments for prescribed occupational diseases.
HSE pulls these together into its annual statistics suite, published every November and covering the year ending the previous March — so “2024/25” means the year ending 31 March 2025. The enforcement figures come from the parallel annual release on GOV.UK, and the £22.9 billion figure from HSE’s Costs to Britain model, updated on the same cycle.
One caveat worth knowing: the headline death figures are modelled estimates, not counts. Because of disease latency, no register links each death to a workplace, so HSE’s researchers estimate the occupational share of each disease from exposure histories and epidemiological studies. That is why the totals are rounded — ~13,000, ~11,000 — while the mesothelioma count, which comes straight from death certificates, is exact.
Frequently asked questions
How many people die from workplace exposure to hazardous substances in the UK?
Around 13,000 deaths a year in Great Britain are estimated to be linked to past workplace exposure, mainly to chemicals and dust (HSE, 2024/25 release). Around 11,000 of those are deaths from occupational lung disease, including COPD, lung cancer and mesothelioma.
How many workers suffer ill health from hazardous substances at work?
HSE’s overall estimate is 1.9 million workers with work-related ill health from all causes in 2024/25. Attributed to workplace exposures specifically, there are around 22,000 new cases of breathing or lung problems each year (2024/25) and an average of 16,000 people a year reporting work-related skin problems (2019–2022).
How many COSHH prosecutions are there each year in the UK?
HSE doesn’t publish a COSHH-only count. Across all health and safety legislation, HSE completed 246 prosecutions in 2024/25, with a 96% conviction rate and more than £33 million in fines. COSHH breaches are usually prosecuted under Regulations 6, 7 or 9, or under the Health and Safety at Work Act, and fines are unlimited.
What illnesses does chemical exposure at work cause most often?
Lung disease and skin disease dominate. Respiratory outcomes include COPD, occupational asthma (1,500–3,000 new cases a year, with isocyanates the most common cause) and lung cancers. On the skin, work-related contact dermatitis is the most widespread outcome, concentrated in wet-work trades such as catering, hairdressing, cleaning and healthcare.
What counts as a hazardous substance under COSHH?
Chemicals and products containing them, fumes, dusts, vapours, mists, gases and biological agents — anything hazardous to health that workers could be exposed to, with asbestos and lead excluded because they have their own regulations. What substances are covered by COSHH goes through the scope in detail.
How often are these statistics updated?
Annually. HSE publishes its health and safety statistics suite every November, covering the year ending the previous March, with the enforcement release and the Costs to Britain model updated on the same cycle. This page is refreshed when each new release appears.
Related guides
- Silica Dust Statistics UK: Exposure, Silicosis & Deaths
- Occupational Dermatitis Statistics UK: Work-Related Skin Disease
- What is COSHH?
- COSHH Regulations 2002: A Plain-English Summary
- What Substances Are Covered by COSHH? (And What Isn’t)
- How to Carry Out a COSHH Risk Assessment
Sources & references
- HSE — Work-related ill health and occupational disease in Great Britain (statistics overview)
- HSE — Occupational Lung Disease statistics in Great Britain, 2025
- HSE — Asbestos-related disease statistics, Great Britain 2025
- GOV.UK — Health and Safety statistics: 2024 to 2025 annual release
- HSE — Costs to Great Britain of workplace injuries and new cases of work-related ill health
- HSE — Work-related skin disease statistics
- HSE — Cancer and construction: silica dust
- HSE Media Centre — HSE says no dry cutting of engineered stone ahead of inspection crackdown (11 May 2026)
- NHS Resolution — Learning from staff claims relating to exposure to substances hazardous to health
- Asthma + Lung UK — Occupational asthma
Behind every one of these numbers is an exposure that was never assessed or controlled — make sure your team can recognise and control hazardous substances.
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Mark writes about workplace health & safety, COSHH and accredited online training for COSHH Training, part of Online CPD Academy.