The British Safety Council has launched a new flagship campaign — Hidden Hazards — targeting the invisible workplace risks that kill tens of thousands of workers every year but rarely attract the public attention that acute, visible accidents receive.

Launched on 31 July 2026, Hidden Hazards is a UK-wide campaign aimed at raising awareness of hazardous substances, noise, poor air quality, workplace stress and fatigue — risks that accumulate silently over years, often leaving workers sick or dead long after the original exposure.

The campaign’s opening focus is silicosis, followed by stress, asbestos and workplace air quality in subsequent phases, with a new issue spotlighted every six months. The British Safety Council has committed to conducting new research into each area — including the lived experiences of affected workers — and to using those findings to make policy recommendations and develop new guidance for employers.

The scale of the problem the campaign is addressing is significant. Respiratory conditions linked to silica and asbestos exposure alone contribute to approximately 9,000 deaths annually in the United Kingdom. When stress-related illness, occupational cancers and noise-induced hearing loss are added, the total burden of occupational disease dwarfs the toll from acute workplace accidents by a wide margin.

While the campaign is UK-based, its subject matter is squarely relevant to Australian workplaces. Silicosis from engineered stone benchtops remains an active regulatory concern following Australia’s 2024 ban, asbestos is a permanent fixture in the country’s pre-2003 built environment, and psychosocial hazards — including stress and fatigue — are now subject to explicit regulatory duties in every Australian jurisdiction.

The British Safety Council’s Hidden Hazards hub is available at britsafe.org.