Occupational Lung Disease Statistics 2021
The HSE have published their annual statistics report for 2021.
12,000 Lung disease deaths each year estimated to be linked to past exposures at work
17,000 Estimated annual new cases of self-reported breathing or lung problems caused or made worse by work
Coronavirus pandemic
A substantial minority of respondents in the 2020/21 Labour Fource Survey who reported having breathing or lung problems caused or made worse by work identified that this was linked to coronavirus or suspected coronavirus at work, and most of these reported that their illness was from exposure to coronavirus at work. Therefore, part of the estimate of breathing or lung problems based on the 2020/21 LFS is likely to be COVID-19 arising from infection at work. However, some of the respondents may have still reported having breathing or lung problems for other work-related reasons had they not contracted COVID-19. More details can be found in our technical report on the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on health and safety statistics.