New analysis from personal protective equipment (PPE) specialists at Start Safety has revealed the financial impact of poor PPE compliance, with workplace injuries costing UK employers more than £1.3 billion during the latest reporting period.

Drawing on data from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the report links inadequate use of safety gear to millions of lost working days and substantial expenses in compensation, insurance, and legal fees. As companies face growing operational challenges, the findings stress the need for stronger PPE policies to protect both employees and business finances.

In 2024, an estimated 33.7 million working days were lost due to sickness or injury, averaging 15.5 days per worker. The financial burden on employers totalled £1,348,189,560, covering expenses such as statutory sick pay, temporary recruitment, health insurance, and compensation claims. On average, each workplace injury cost businesses £21,907.

Breakdown of employer costs

• Occupational and statutory sick pay: £587,167,716 (£9,541 per injury)
• Employers’ liability insurance premiums: £523,858,571 (£8,512 per injury)
• National Insurance on sick pay: £81,022,584 (£1,317 per injury)
• Private health insurance premiums: £41,331,359 (£672 per injury)
• Recruitment and induction for replacements: £32,146,612 (£522 per injury)
• Work reorganisation: £27,882,266 (£453 per injury)
• Investigation and legal costs: £26,242,133 (£426 per injury)
• Fines: £18,369,493 (£298 per injury)
• Administration of claims and insurance: £10,168,826 (£165 per injury)

Start Safety’s analysis identifies slips and trips, falls from height, and handling injuries as the most common incidents. It also warns that exposure to harmful substances without proper respiratory protection remains a consistent and under-managed risk.

Most common workplace accidents

• Slips, trips, or falls on the same level: 8,085 injuries (£176.9m cost)
• Handling, lifting, or carrying: 5,992 injuries (£131.1m cost)
• Falls from height: 2,318 injuries (£50.7m cost)
• Exposure to harmful substances: 632 injuries (£13.8m cost)
• Exposure to fire: 129 injuries (£2.8m cost)

According to the ONS, 7.3% of workplace illnesses in 2024 were due to respiratory conditions. HSE data also shows more than 600 injuries from dangerous workplace exposures, costing employers over £13 million in 2022/23. Occupational exposure to hazardous substances can cause chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which is worsened by dust, fumes, and gases. HSE figures indicate that around 15% of COPD cases are work-related, with approximately 4,000 deaths annually linked to occupational exposure. Forty per cent of COPD patients are under retirement age, and a quarter of these are unable to work.

James Crame, PPE expert at Start Safety, says employers can reduce risks by investing in high-quality PPE and ensuring proper fit-testing.

“Ensuring staff are equipped with the right PPE is essential for employers, because it ensures protection physically and financially. The risks that staff face if unprotected range in severity from mild skin and eye irritation through to devastating, life-long respiratory disease, and even death in the most severe of cases.

“Research repeatedly links occupational asthma and COPD with reduced workforce participation and premature retirement, which means not only a huge loss of productivity for businesses in the short term, but a huge loss financially too.

“It’s not just the sick pay and the cost of hiring and training replacement or temporary teams, but some of the fines reported by HSE show a complete and utter lack of care for workers, which could easily have been avoided with the right PPE. The data is clear: respiratory risks are fuelling absence and enforcement, while investing in an airtight PPE programme that is adequately fit tested and up to regulation cuts employee downtime, employer legal exposure, and it pays for itself quickly.”

The industries with the highest workplace injury costs include health and social work (£916m), wholesale and retail (£850m), construction (£815m), professional and administrative services (£721m), and manufacturing (£668m). Together, these sectors account for more than 65% of total costs.

HSE’s wider 2023/24 figures show 604,000 non-fatal workplace injuries and a total economic impact of £21.6 billion from injuries and ill health. Although fatal accidents have declined by 85% since HSE’s establishment 50 years ago, PPE compliance remains a key area for improvement.