ABSTRACT
This chapter considers how different forms of illness are socially distributed in the workforce. They are limiting long term illness, temporarily restricted activity and injuries as reported in the course of work. A distinct form of illness is the ‘episode’ of restricted activity. This may be an acute flare-up of a long term illness or a new condition altogether - this year’s ‘flu, for instance. On the face of it, injuries arising from work which are reported to authorities are quasi-natural events and belong in the same category as ‘disease’ not ‘illness’. Since the publication of the Health and Safety at Work Act in 1974 and, in particular, the tighter enforcement of some of its provisions by the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations in 1985, employers and the self-employed must notify the Health and Safety Executive when certain defined major injuries or any injury resulting in more than three days of absence occur.
