The Workplace Safety Report

CHAPTER 1: DIGITAL TOOL USE

New in 2026: the safety – productivity link

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A new development in the 2026 edition of the report was the strong link drawn by workers between safety and productivity. When asked if they believed a safer workplace would make them more productive, a global average of 91% said yes.

The majority also said they would prefer more safety-focused digital tools, but this is highly dependent on the implementation of such solutions. Consulting firm BCG reports that as many as 70% of digital transformation projects fall short of their objectives, so engaging with workers early on is imperative. This has become more important with the development of AI-based tools.

Take a closer look at the regional breakdown:

UK & Ireland

90% of workers in the UK and Ireland reported that a safer workplace would make them more productive.

While an overall 71% in this region said that they would feel safer with more digital tools, for most this was dependent on how these tools were implemented. The story is even more complicated on a country level. 33% workers in the UK responded ‘yes, definitely’, vs. a much more reluctant 20% of workers in Ireland.

When asked if AI could improve workplace safety, a combined 47% of UK and Ireland workers responded ‘Yes, definitely’ and ‘Yes, it has potential’. A closer look at individual country scores again shows much more hesitation among Irish workers. 27% of Irish workers answered ‘Somewhat, but it depends on implementation’ compared to 18% of UK workers.

USA & Canada

92% of workers in the USA and Canada agreed that a safer workplace would make them more productive. This was the highest score out of the regions surveyed.

An overall 73% of workers in the USA and Canada said they would feel safer with more digital safety tools, depending on how these tools were implemented. We noted that overall positivity was higher in the USA than in Canada (USA ‘yes, definitely’ = 35%, Canada ‘yes, definitely’= 31%). In Canada, slightly more workers responded ‘no, digital tools wouldn’t make a difference’ (23%) than in the USA (20%)

This trend carried over to the question of using AI for safety in the workplace. While a combined 47% of USA and Canada workers answered ‘Yes, definitely’ and ‘Yes it has potential’, workers in the USA lead in outright AI positivity (‘Yes, definitely’ = 28%) vs. Canada (‘Yes, definitely’ = 21%). A noticeably higher number of Canadian workers responded ‘Somewhat, but it depends on implementation’ at 23% vs. US workers at 17%.

Nordics

An average of 91% of Nordic workers said that a safer workplace would make them more productive.

When it comes to using more digital tools for workplace safety, 75% of Nordic workers said they would feel safer, depending on how these tools were implemented.

On an individual country basis, Norway leads the way in outright positivity towards digital tools, with 29% responding they would definitely improve the situation. Finland on the other hand lags behind here, with just 15% responding ‘yes, definitely’. Finland had the highest rate of workers answering ‘No, digital tools wouldn’t make a difference’ (23%) out of all the Nordic countries.

Norway also leads in overall positivity towards the use of AI for safety in the Nordics. 17% of Norwegian workers answered ‘yes, definitely’ to the question of whether AI could improve workplace safety (Sweden ‘yes, definitely’ = 13%, Denmark ‘yes, definitely’= 14%, Finland ‘yes, definitely = 9%).

CHAPTER 2: SAFETY ENVIRONMENT

Workplace Safety Perceptions: What Workers Really Think

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Across all regions, the majority of workers reported feeling safe in their current workplace, with a global average of 78% agreeing that their workplace is safe.

Employer engagement tells a more complicated story: 66% of workers globally said their employer actively works to resolve workplace issues, while 70% said their employer makes an effort to assess physical workplace hazards. That persistent gap between personal safety perceptions and confidence in employer-led action runs across every region surveyed.

Despite these broadly positive safety scores, nearly half of all workers globally (49%) said they or a relative had been affected by a workplace accident or work-related illness, including mental illness.

Take a closer look at the regional breakdown:

UK & Ireland

83% of workers in the UK and Ireland agreed that their workplace is safe, the highest regional average. On a country level, Ireland came in at 85% and the UK at 83%.

Employer engagement was also the strongest in this region, with 72% agreeing their employer actively works to resolve workplace issues (Ireland at 75% and the UK at 71%). On physical workplace hazard assessment, 80% of the region agreed their employer makes an effort, with the UK leading at 80% versus 76% in Ireland.

39% of workers in the UK and Ireland said they or a relative had been affected by a workplace accident or illness. This is the lowest rate across all regions, and a notable improvement on the 45% recorded in 2025. On a country level, UK workers reported a higher rate of personal impact at 41%, compared to 32% in Ireland. This is a significant shift for Ireland in particular, where the figure stood at 48% in 2025.

USA & Canada

80% of workers in the USA and Canada agreed their workplace is safe, with Canada ahead at 81% and the USA at 79%.

70% said their employer actively works to resolve workplace issues (USA at 69% and Canada at 71%) while 73% said their employer assesses physical workplace hazards, with the USA leading at 75% versus 71% in Canada.

47% of North American workers said they or a relative had been affected by a workplace accident or illness, virtually unchanged from the 46% recorded in 2025. The figures were nearly identical across both countries, with the USA at 47% and Canada at 45%.

Nordics

76% of Nordic workers agreed their workplace is safe, the lowest regional figure. Sweden was the outlier at 70%, well below Finland’s regional high of 84%, with Norway at 77% and Denmark at 75%.

Employer engagement followed a similar pattern: 64% of Nordic workers said their employer actively works to resolve workplace issues, and 67% said physical workplace hazards are assessed, both the lowest scores across all regions.

52% of Nordic workers said they or a relative had been affected by a workplace accident or illness, the highest of all regions, and just marginally below the 53% recorded in 2025. Sweden recorded the highest rate at 54%, with Norway the lowest at 49%.

CHAPTER 3: STRESS & MENTAL HEALTH

Stress continues to be the main driver of workplace accidents and illnesses

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Of the workers globally who reported being affected by a workplace accident or illness, 57% said it was stress-related. This figure is slightly lower than the 59% recorded in 2025, and still the single biggest driver of workplace incidents across all regions surveyed.

This is consistent with broader research: EU-OSHA reports that psychosocial risks such as stress, anxiety and depression are the second most common work-related health problem affecting European workers, behind only musculoskeletal disorders.

Despite this, preventing stress ranked last out of the five employer effort areas included in the survey. Just 53% of workers globally said their employer makes an effort in this area, well behind hazard assessment and competency training, both at 70%.

Here’s how things break down across the regions:

UK & Ireland

61% of workers in the UK and Ireland who had experienced a workplace accident or illness said it was stress-related, an improvement on the 64% recorded in 2025 though still the highest regional figure. On a country level, UK workers reported a higher rate at 62% versus 57% in Ireland.

Despite this, preventing stress was the lowest-ranked employer effort in the region at 62% (Ireland at 56% and the UK at 64%) and this despite the region scoring highest on stress prevention out of all three regions surveyed.

USA & Canada

56% of North American workers who had experienced a workplace accident or illness attributed it to stress, a slight increase on the 54% recorded in 2025. However, the country-level picture has shifted considerably since last year. In 2025, Canada recorded a significantly higher stress attribution rate than the USA (68% vs. 44%). In 2026 that gap has closed sharply, with the USA now higher at 59% versus 51% in Canada.

Employer efforts on stress prevention stood at 61% regionally (USA at 62% and Canada at 58%) ranking last out of the five effort areas surveyed in both countries.

Nordics

56% of Nordic workers who had experienced a workplace accident or illness said it was stress-related, a marginal improvement on 59% in 2025. Sweden recorded the highest stress attribution rate in the region at 64%, with Norway at 58% and Denmark at 55%. Finland was the lowest at 48%.

Stress prevention was the lowest-ranked employer effort in the Nordics at 48%, the lowest score of any region, and a significant 14 points behind the next lowest metric in the region. The gap is particularly pronounced in Norway, where just 43% of workers said their employer makes efforts to prevent stress, with Sweden and Denmark slightly higher at 50% and 49% respectively, and Finland at 48%.

CHAPTER 4: CRISIS MANAGEMENT

Cyberattacks are the no.1 perceived business threat in 2026

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A new addition to the 2026 survey was the inclusion of questions centered around crisis management and workers perception of it.

Globally, cyberattacks and data breaches are considered to be the most significant threats to business operations by workers. According to IBM, the global average cost of a data breach reached $4.88 million in 2024.

The top 3 perceived threats on a global scale are:

1. 1. Cyberattack or data breach
2. 2. Pandemic or infectious disease outbreak
3. 3. Serious workplace injury or medical emergency

Our research suggests that over half of workers surveyed have some level of understanding of their employer’s crisis management process, but this varied by region.

UK & Ireland

The UK and Ireland workers ranked cyberattack or data breach as the top perceived threat (overall average 42%), followed by serious workplace injury or medical emergency (overall average 27%).

On an individual country basis, there were several factors that would change the overall ranking. For a complete breakdown of the individual rankings for the UK and for Ireland, download the full report here.

We noted that out of all regions surveyed, the UK and Ireland had the lowest result in terms of workers’ level of understanding of their workplaces crisis management process at 57% (combining ‘yes and I understand it well’ = 30% and ‘yes, but I only know the basics’ = 27%).

USA & Canada

Workers in the USA and Canada ranked serious workplace injury or medical emergency as the top perceived threat (overall average 27%), followed by serious weather or natural disaster injury or medical emergency (overall average 26%).

On an individual country basis, there were several factors that would change the overall ranking. For a complete breakdown of the individual rankings for the USA and for Canada, download the full report here.

We noted that out of all regions surveyed, the USA and Canada had the highest result in terms of workers’ level of understanding of their workplaces crisis management process at 62% (combining ‘yes and I understand it well’ = 37% and ‘yes, but I only know the basics’ = 25%).

Nordics

Workers in the Nordic countries ranked cyberattack or data breach as the top perceived threat (overall average 31%), followed by pandemic or infectious disease outbreak (overall average 31%).

On an individual country basis, there were several factors that would change the overall ranking. For a complete breakdown of the individual rankings for Denmark and for Norway, download the full reports here.

An average of 60% of Nordic respondents had some level of understanding of their workplaces’ crisis management process (combining ‘yes and I understand it well’ = 29% and ‘yes, but I only know the basics’ = 31%). Denmark had the highest number of respondents saying that they were not aware of any plan (20%).

CHAPTER 5: CHEMICAL SAFETY

Workplace exposure to hazardous chemicals remains uncomfortably high

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Exposure to hazardous chemicals remains a significant reality across all regions. Globally, 51% of workers said they handle chemicals requiring safety data sheets in their workplace, up from 44% in 2025.

Access to digital tools for managing that risk is improving but remains uneven: 62% of workers globally said everyone at their workplace has access to chemical safety information via a digital system, 68% said they know how to find safety data sheets, and 58% have access to chemical safety information via QR code on a mobile device.

Let’s see how this compares across the three regions:

UK & Ireland

44% of workers in the UK and Ireland handle chemicals in the workplace, the lowest of all regions. On a country level, the UK came in at 46% and Ireland at 38%.

Digital access to chemical safety information was broadly positive in the region, with 70% agreeing their workplace provides access via a digital system (UK at 71% and Ireland at 64%)

74% said they know how to find safety data sheets, with the UK again leading at 76% versus 64% in Ireland. QR code access stood at 68% regionally, but the gap between the two countries was significant: 71% in the UK versus just 55% in Ireland, a 16-point difference that mirrors the disparity seen in North America between the USA and Canada.

USA & Canada

53% of North American workers handle chemicals in the workplace. The USA was notably higher at 56% versus 48% in Canada.

Digital access to chemical safety information was strong in the region, with 70% agreeing their workplace provides access via a digital system (USA at 71% and Canada at 69%).

North America recorded the highest rate of workers who said they know how to find safety data sheets at 77%, with the USA leading at 79% versus 71% in Canada.

QR code access was the highest of all regions at 72%, though the gap between the two countries was notable: 77% in the USA versus just 61% in Canada, a 16-point difference that suggests digital chemical safety tools are being adopted at a significantly faster rate south of the border.

Nordics

53% of Nordic workers handle chemicals in their workplace, in line with the North American figure but representing a reduction from 57% in 2025.

Access to chemical safety information via digital systems was the weakest of all regions at 57%, with notable variation by country: Norway led at 60% and Finland trailed at 55%, with Denmark at 59% and Sweden at 57%.

Knowledge of where to find safety data sheets followed a similar pattern at 64% regionally, again the lowest of all regions. Norway was the strongest at 67%, Denmark came in at 64% and Finland and Sweden tied at 63%.

QR code access was also the lowest regionally at 51%, and the variation here was the most striking of any region: Sweden recorded just 41%, well behind Norway at 58%, Denmark at 57% and Finland at 51%.

CHAPTER 6: LONE WORKER SAFETY

Lone Worker Safety: 1 in 3 Employees Work Alone in 2026

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On a global level, our research indicates that 32% of workers are lone workers. The highest reported numbers were found in the USA and Canada (35%).

32% of the overall number of lone workers said that they had experienced an accident while working alone in 2025. Organizations such as the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in the UK report that lone workers can be particularly affected by risks such as workplace violence, stress/ mental health issues and the nature of the workplace itself (e.g. an isolated or confined space).

Just over half of all lone worker respondents said that they felt their employer took great safety responsibility for them, with some significant variation on a regional level. On a global level, ‘fatigue’ emerged as the top concern for lone workers, displacing stress/mental health issues in 2025.

UK & Ireland

32% of workers in the UK and Ireland identified themselves as lone workers. On an individual country level, the number was noticeably higher in the UK (34%) than in Ireland (26%). 30% of lone workers in the UK and Ireland report having experienced an accident while working alone in 2025.

62% of lone workers in the UK and Ireland believe that their employer takes great safety responsibility for them. This is down from 2025’s 68%.

When taking the UK and Ireland average lone worker data in isolation, stress/mental health issues take the no.1 spot as the greatest lone worker concern. This changes again on an individual country basis, and you can download the full UK and Ireland report to get the whole picture.

USA & Canada

35% of workers in the USA and Canada identified themselves as lone workers, the highest of all regions surveyed. Taking the two countries individually, more lone workers were reported in the USA (38%) than in Canada (30%). 33% of lone workers in the USA and Canada reported that they experienced an accident while working alone in 2025, again the highest of all regions in the survey.

62% of lone workers in the region believe that their employer takes great safety responsibility for them. This is down from 2025’s 69%.

When taking the average lone worker data for the USA and Canada in isolation, stress/mental health issues take the no.1 spot as the greatest lone worker concern. This changes again on an individual country basis. Learn more about these insights by downloading the full report.

Nordics

31% of workers in the Nordics identified themselves as lone workers, the lowest of all regions surveyed.

The most lone workers were located in Finland (36%), with the lowest numbers being found in Norway (20%). An average of 32% of Nordic lone workers had experienced an accident while working alone in 2025, and we noted an interesting development on an individual country basis.

Despite having the lowest number of lone workers in the Nordics (and out of all countries involved in this survey), Norway had the highest number of lone worker incidents in 2025 at 45%. The lowest number of lone worker incidents was recorded in Sweden at 26%.

Just over half (52%) of lone workers in the Nordics believe that their employer takes great safety responsibility for them. Norway had the highest individual agreement score (despite its high accident rate) at 56%, while Sweden had the lowest at 47%.

‘Fatigue’ came out as the top concern for lone workers in the Nordics.

CHAPTER 7: SUSTAINABILITY

2026 presents an uneven landscape for sustainability efforts

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As the regulatory landscape for sustainability and ESG reporting continues to shift, we wanted to see the level of awareness that workers have of their employers’ initiatives.

A global average of 75% of respondents said that it was important that their employer actively works to reduce environmental impact. This is a slight increase from 2025’s global average of 73%.

On average, 51% of workers surveyed felt that their company had focused more on sustainability in 2025 than in previous years, in line with the average responses from last year’s survey.

An average of 43% said that their business operates according to an ESG framework or standard. This is an increase from 32% in 2025.

UK & Ireland

An average of 79% of workers in the UK and Ireland said that it was important that their employer actively works to reduce environment impact (UK: 79%, Ireland 79%). This was the highest score out of all regions surveyed, and an increase from 76% in 2025.

The picture is much more mixed when it comes to the implementation and understanding of ESG initiatives in the workplace. 55% of UK and Ireland workers said that their business operated according to an ESG framework – the highest amount of all regions surveyed.

On a country level, this is more common in the UK (56%) than in Ireland (47%). We also noted a higher level of ‘I don’t know what this is’ responses in Ireland (28%) than in the UK (22%).

USA & Canada

An average of 78% of workers in the USA and Canada said that it was important that their employer actively works to reduce environment impact (USA: 78%, Canada: 77%). This increased from 72% in 2025.

47% of workers in the USA and Canada say that their business operates according to an ESG framework. This is a significant increase from 33% in 2025.

On a country level, there wasn’t a large difference between the USA and Canada. ESG frameworks were slightly more common in the USA (48%) than in Canada (46%).

Nordics

73% of Nordic respondents said that it was important that their employer actively works to reduce its environmental impact. This was lower than the global average, and the lowest score of all regions studied. There was no significant difference between the individual country scores on this (Sweden: 75%, Norway: 74%, Denmark: 73%, Finland: 72%).

38% of workers in the Nordics say that their business operates according to an ESG framework. This is an increase from 29% in 2025. However, we noted that this too was below the global average and the lowest score of all regions surveyed.

On an individual country basis, Norway is leading in the Nordics in terms of ESG framework adoption, at 42%. Sweden is in the last position at 35%.

We noted the high rate of ‘I don’t know what this is’ response to this question in the Nordic region compared to the others.

CHAPTER 8: FINAL THOUGHTS

What’s next?

We can see from the data presented here that workers are now firmly linking safety with productivity. While the majority of workers see the benefit of digital tools for workplace safety, there is a gap in the provision of these tools, particularly in the Nordics.

A connected software solution that spans EHS, chemical safety, lone working, sustainability as well as training and learning can go a long way towards mitigating the risks identified in our survey. Find out more about EcoOnline’s software options below:

Turn fragmented data into confident decision-making

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