Benchmark results by industry sector
Safecall works with organisations across a broad mix of industry sectors, each with its own reporting behaviours, risks and cultural dynamics.
Industry sector type is one of the strongest influences on how – and how often – employees speak up, with operational sectors typically seeing higher reporting engagement and professional services surfacing very different types of concerns. This section helps you explore those variations and understand what they mean for your organisation.
How to use this sector analysis
Use these insights to benchmark your organisation and understand how your sector typically behaves:
- Benchmark reporting levels against similar organisations.
- Understand your issue mix by comparing sector‑specific patterns.
- Assess your channel blend and see whether employees in your industry favour web, phone or a mix of both.
- Interpret anonymity in context, understanding whether your identity split aligns with sector norms.
This helps you make sense of your own data – and identify where communication, visibility or channel design may need attention.
Industry-driven reporting patterns
1. Reporting levels by sector
Reporting levels vary across industries, as shown in the table above. Airports & airlines has the highest reporting rate at 1/125, followed by Education at 1/150, Care & support at 1/200, emergency services at 1/250 and facilities management at 1/280. The next group includes nuclear (1/300), retail (1/350), healthcare (1/350), leisure (1/350) and logistics (1/350).
In the mid‑range, reporting levels include non‑profit (1/375), food processing & wholesale (1/380), engineering (1/400), oil & gas (1/450), sport (1/450) and construction (1/500).
Lower reporting levels appear in manufacturing (1/600), utilities (1/600), local government (1/750) and private equity (1/825). The lowest reporting levels in the dataset are housing associations (1/900), legal services (1/900), pharmaceuticals (1/1000) and technology (1/1000).
Average reporting rates are 1/365 across all sectors, 1/343 for blue‑collar sectors, and 1/453 for white‑collar sectors.
Reports per employee by sector (ordered highest to lowest)
| Airports & airlines | 1/125 |
| Education | 1/150 |
| Care & support | 1/200 |
| Emergency services | 1/250 |
| Facilities management | 1/280 |
| Nuclear | 1/300 |
| Retail | 1/350 |
| Healthcare | 1/350 |
| Leisure | 1/350 |
| Logistics | 1/350 |
| Non-profit | 1/375 |
| Food processing & wholesale | 1/380 |
| Engineering | 1/400 |
| Oil & gas | 1/450 |
| Sport | 1/450 |
| Construction | 1/500 |
| Mining | 1/500 |
| Support services | 1/500 |
| Banking & finance | 1/600 |
| Manufacturing | 1/600 |
| Utilities | 1/600 |
| Local government | 1/750 |
| Professional services | 1/750 |
| Private equity | 1/825 |
| Housing associations | 1/900 |
| Legal services | 1/900 |
| Pharmaceuticals | 1/1000 |
| Technology | 1/1000 |
Average (all industry sectors)
Average (blue-collar industry sectors)
Average (white-collar industry sectors)
2. Reporting channel use by sector
Web remains the most commonly used reporting channel across most sectors. High web usage appears in emergency services (93%), legal services (89%), sport (90%), private equity (83%), and logistics (82%).
Phone reporting shows more variation between industries. Higher levels of phone use are seen in healthcare (42%), facilities management (36%), retail (36%), engineering (34%), and housing associations (33%).
Email usage is generally low but is notably higher in mining (45%), local government (29%), non‑profit (26%), professional services (22%), and technology (15%).
Reporting channel mix by industry sector
| Phone | Web | ||
| Airports & airlines | 4% | 17% | 79% |
| Banking & finance | 5% | 14% | 81% |
| Care & support | 10% | 19% | 71% |
| Construction | 6% | 23% | 71% |
| Education | 1% | 26% | 73% |
| Emergency services | 0% | 7% | 93% |
| Engineering | 7% | 34% | 59% |
| Facilities management | 14% | 36% | 50% |
| Food processing & wholesale | 3% | 28% | 69% |
| Healthcare | 3% | 42% | 55% |
| Housing associations | 0% | 33% | 67% |
| Legal services | 0% | 11% | 89% |
| Leisure | 0% | 29% | 71% |
| Local government | 29% | 15% | 56% |
| Logistics | 2% | 16% | 82% |
| Manufacturing | 2% | 22% | 76% |
| Mining | 45% | 16% | 39% |
| Non-profit | 26% | 6% | 68% |
| Nuclear | 6% | 22% | 72% |
| Oil & gas | 18% | 14% | 68% |
| Pharmaceuticals | 0% | 0% | 100% |
| Private equity | 7% | 10% | 83% |
| Professional services | 22% | 17% | 61% |
| Retail | 0% | 36% | 64% |
| Sport | 0% | 10% | 90% |
| Support services | 9% | 28% | 63% |
| Technology | 15% | 28% | 57% |
| Utilities | 7% | 16% | 77% |
3. Issue mix & risk profile by sector
Across sectors, the balance of issue types varies. Dishonest behaviour is comparatively higher in private equity (31%), local government (27%) and mining (26%), with emergency services (23%) also elevated. Mid‑range levels include banking & finance (21%), leisure (14%) and logistics (15%), while care & support (6%) and healthcare (6%) sit at the lower end of the distribution.
General concerns account for a larger share in several sectors. Higher proportions appear in private equity (31%) and housing associations (30%), with emergency services (22%), food processing & wholesale (22%), logistics (24%) and utilities (24%) also towards the upper range. Lower proportions include nuclear (16%), retail (15%) and airports & airlines (19%).
Health & Safety shows its highest proportions in airports & airlines (21%), care & support (20%) and utilities (17%), with construction (15%), education (16%), emergency services (15%), food processing & wholesale (16%) and logistics (16%) also above average. Sectors such as local government (7%), non‑profit (7%) and professional services (7%) record lower levels.
HR issues form the largest category in many industries. The highest proportions are in manufacturing (74%), followed by legal services (67%), support services (67%) and education (62%). High HR shares are also recorded in healthcare (59%), mining (58%), nuclear (56%), care & support (54%) and local government (54%).
Within dishonest behaviour, the overall sub‑category mix is integrity 53%, fraud 25%, theft 14%, corruption 5%, bribery 2% and money laundering <1%. Sector examples include care & support, where dishonest‑behaviour cases are 100% integrity, and local government, which shows a higher share of corruption (43%); and professional services and support services, each showing higher theft proportions (both around a quarter of dishonest‑behaviour cases).
Within General, the overall sub‑category split is reputation 48%, policy 24%, data protection 9%, regulatory compliance 8%, safeguarding 3%, environmental 2%, and failure to act on previous report 1%.. Sector examples include local government with reputation at 60% of general cases, legal services with regulatory compliance at 67%, professional services with a higher corporate governance share (23%), education with policy at 21%, and healthcare with data protection at 13%.
Within Health & Safety, grand‑total proportions are general safety 74%, substance abuse 22%, and product contamination 4%. Sector examples include elevated substance abuse shares in emergency services (67%), utilities (54%), construction (40%) and nuclear (37%); food processing & wholesale shows product contamination at 16%.
Reporting categories by industry sector
| Dishonest Behaviour | General | Health & Safety | HR | |
| Airports & airlines | 18% | 19% | 21% | 42% |
| Banking & finance | 21% | 31% | 2% | 46% |
| Care & support | 6% | 20% | 20% | 54% |
| Construction | 15% | 15% | 15% | 55% |
| Education | 2% | 20% | 16% | 62% |
| Emergency services | 23% | 22% | 15% | 42% |
| Engineering | 12% | 21% | 10% | 57% |
| Facilities management | 17% | 13% | 9% | 61% |
| Food processing & wholesale | 10% | 22% | 16% | 52% |
| Healthcare | 6% | 21% | 14% | 59% |
| Housing associations | 10% | 30% | 15% | 45% |
| Legal services | 0% | 33% | 0% | 67% |
| Leisure | 14% | 13% | 12% | 61% |
| Local government | 27% | 12% | 7% | 54% |
| Logistics | 15% | 24% | 16% | 45% |
| Manufacturing | 9% | 11% | 6% | 74% |
| Mining | 26% | 6% | 10% | 58% |
| Non-profit | 15% | 26% | 7% | 52% |
| Nuclear | 18% | 16% | 10% | 56% |
| Oil & gas | 15% | 22% | 11% | 52% |
| Pharmaceuticals | 13% | 20% | 7% | 60% |
| Private equity | 31% | 31% | 0% | 38% |
| Professional services | 17% | 15% | 7% | 61% |
| Retail | 19% | 15% | 9% | 57% |
| Sport | 10% | 28% | 14% | 48% |
| Support services | 5% | 23% | 5% | 67% |
| Technology | 13% | 24% | 0% | 63% |
| Utilities | 20% | 24% | 17% | 39% |
Reporting sub-categories by industry sector: dishonest behaviour
| Bribery | Corruption | Fraud | Integrity | Money laundering | Theft | |
| Airports & airlines | 0% | 3% | 13% | 80% | 0% | 4% |
| Banking & finance | 3% | 11% | 27% | 57% | 0% | 2% |
| Care & support | 0% | 0% | 0% | 100% | 0% | 0% |
| Construction | 5% | 8% | 18% | 55% | 0% | 14% |
| Education | 0% | 25% | 50% | 25% | 0% | 0% |
| Emergency services | 0% | 0% | 10% | 90% | 0% | 0% |
| Engineering | 0% | 14% | 4% | 82% | 0% | 0% |
| Facilities management | 7% | 0% | 31% | 41% | 0% | 21% |
| Food processing & wholesale | 0% | 0% | 20% | 60% | 0% | 20% |
| Healthcare | 0% | 0% | 25% | 50% | 0% | 25% |
| Housing associations | 0% | 0% | 0% | 50% | 0% | 50% |
| Leisure | 0% | 7% | 5% | 71% | 0% | 17% |
| Local government | 0% | 43% | 57% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Logistics | 1% | 2% | 43% | 33% | 0% | 21% |
| Manufacturing | 0% | 14% | 40% | 46% | 0% | 0% |
| Mining | 0% | 29% | 14% | 57% | 0% | 0% |
| Non-profit | 1% | 5% | 29% | 54% | 0% | 11% |
| Nuclear | 0% | 0% | 7% | 86% | 0% | 7% |
| Oil & gas | 16% | 17% | 25% | 42% | 0% | 0% |
| Pharmaceuticals | 0% | 0% | 50% | 50% | 0% | 0% |
| Private equity | 0% | 11% | 11% | 56% | 11% | 11% |
| Professional services | 0% | 0% | 5% | 71% | 0% | 24% |
| Retail | 2% | 2% | 24% | 48% | 0% | 24% |
| Sport | 0% | 33% | 67% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Support services | 25% | 0% | 25% | 25% | 0% | 25% |
| Technology | 0% | 17% | 33% | 50% | 0% | 0% |
| Utilities | 4% | 0% | 35% | 58% | 0% | 3% |
Reporting sub-categories by industry sector: general
| Corporate governance | Data protection | Environmental | Failure to act on previous report | Policy | Regulatory compliance | Reputation | Safeguarding | |
| Airports & airlines | 0% | 10% | 5% | 0% | 29% | 16% | 40% | 0% |
| Banking & finance | 11% | 13% | 0% | 2% | 24% | 8% | 42% | 0% |
| Care & support | 0% | 8% | 0% | 0% | 25% | 6% | 61% | 0% |
| Construction | 7% | 3% | 3% | 0% | 21% | 7% | 59% | 0% |
| Education | 2% | 2% | 0% | 0% | 34% | 2% | 11% | 49% |
| Emergency services | 6% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 5% | 0% | 89% | 0% |
| Engineering | 0% | 10% | 0% | 7% | 16% | 7% | 60% | 0% |
| Facilities management | 8% | 5% | 5% | 0% | 27% | 5% | 50% | 0% |
| Food processing & wholesale | 0% | 3% | 4% | 0% | 6% | 42% | 45% | 0% |
| Healthcare | 27% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 46% | 0% | 27% | 0% |
| Housing associations | 33% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 67% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Legal services | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 33% | 0% | 67% | 0% |
| Leisure | 2% | 14% | 0% | 0% | 46% | 0% | 38% | 0% |
| Local government | 20% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 20% | 60% | 0% |
| Logistics | 1% | 9% | 7% | 0% | 20% | 1% | 62% | 0% |
| Manufacturing | 3% | 14% | 0% | 0% | 3% | 48% | 32% | 0% |
| Mining | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 100% | 0% |
| Non-profit | 11% | 5% | 0% | 0% | 35% | 6% | 43% | 0% |
| Nuclear | 15% | 8% | 0% | 0% | 23% | 0% | 54% | 0% |
| Oil & gas | 0% | 29% | 0% | 0% | 21% | 7% | 43% | 0% |
| Pharmaceuticals | 0% | 33% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 67% | 0% |
| Private equity | 24% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 25% | 13% | 38% | 0% |
| Professional services | 23% | 8% | 0% | 8% | 23% | 0% | 38% | 0% |
| Retail | 4% | 12% | 1% | 0% | 26% | 3% | 54% | 0% |
| Sport | 14% | 0% | 15% | 0% | 14% | 0% | 57% | 0% |
| Support services | 0% | 6% | 0% | 6% | 31% | 13% | 44% | 0% |
| Technology | 11% | 33% | 0% | 0% | 12% | 0% | 44% | 0% |
| Utilities | 6% | 10% | 0% | 0% | 20% | 17% | 47% | 0% |
Reporting sub-categories by industry sector: Health & Safety
| General safety | Product contamination | Substance abuse | |
| Airports & airlines | 45% | 0% | 55% |
| Banking & finance | 100% | 0% | 0% |
| Care & support | 89% | 3% | 8% |
| Construction | 60% | 0% | 40% |
| Education | 100% | 0% | 0% |
| Emergency services | 33% | 0% | 67% |
| Engineering | 67% | 0% | 33% |
| Facilities management | 75% | 0% | 25% |
| Food processing & wholesale | 53% | 16% | 31% |
| Healthcare | 78% | 0% | 22% |
| Housing associations | 100% | 0% | 0% |
| Leisure | 72% | 3% | 25% |
| Local government | 100% | 0% | 0% |
| Logistics | 82% | 2% | 16% |
| Manufacturing | 82% | 0% | 18% |
| Mining | 67% | 0% | 33% |
| Non-profit | 93% | 0% | 7% |
| Nuclear | 63% | 0% | 37% |
| Oil & gas | 100% | 0% | 0% |
| Pharmaceuticals | 100% | 0% | 0% |
| Professional services | 88% | 0% | 12% |
| Retail | 71% | 18% | 11% |
| Sport | 50% | 0% | 50% |
| Support services | 100% | 0% | 0% |
| Utilities | 46% | 0% | 54% |
Reporting sub-categories by industry sector: HR
| Bullying | Discrimination | Harassment | Modern Slavery | Racism | Unfair Treatment | Victimisation | |
| Airports & airlines | 28% | 11% | 10% | 0% | 4% | 46% | 1% |
| Banking & finance | 17% | 7% | 5% | 0% | 2% | 68% | 1% |
| Care & support | 32% | 5% | 5% | 0% | 2% | 55% | 1% |
| Construction | 27% | 11% | 9% | 0% | 7% | 45% | 1% |
| Education | 30% | 4% | 2% | 0% | 0% | 62% | 2% |
| Emergency services | 39% | 17% | 3% | 0% | 0% | 38% | 3% |
| Engineering | 17% | 8% | 6% | 0% | 1% | 66% | 2% |
| Facilities management | 25% | 8% | 1% | 2% | 1% | 62% | 1% |
| Food processing & wholesale | 21% | 10% | 4% | 0% | 2% | 62% | 1% |
| Healthcare | 42% | 0% | 6% | 0% | 0% | 52% | 0% |
| Housing associations | 22% | 11% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 67% | 0% |
| Legal services | 50% | 0% | 33% | 0% | 0% | 17% | 0% |
| Leisure | 19% | 11% | 7% | 0% | 4% | 58% | 1% |
| Local Government | 30% | 0% | 20% | 0% | 0% | 40% | 10% |
| Logistics | 25% | 7% | 4% | 0% | 1% | 63% | 0% |
| Manufacturing | 6% | 7% | 58% | 0% | 0% | 29% | 0% |
| Mining | 17% | 17% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 67% | 0% |
| Non-profit | 11% | 5% | 15% | 0% | 1% | 66% | 2% |
| Nuclear | 31% | 9% | 0% | 0% | 2% | 58% | 0% |
| Oil & gas | 26% | 7% | 10% | 0% | 0% | 55% | 2% |
| Pharmaceuticals | 0% | 11% | 22% | 0% | 0% | 67% | 0% |
| Private equity | 0% | 9% | 9% | 0% | 9% | 73% | 0% |
| Professional services | 28% | 8% | 3% | 0% | 4% | 53% | 4% |
| Retail | 19% | 8% | 6% | 0% | 2% | 64% | 1% |
| Sport | 29% | 14% | 14% | 0% | 7% | 36% | 0% |
| Support services | 12% | 10% | 10% | 0% | 2% | 66% | 0% |
| Technology | 17% | 14% | 7% | 0% | 3% | 59% | 0% |
| Utilities | 31% | 24% | 9% | 0% | 5% | 31% | 0% |
4. Identity choices by sector
Identity preferences vary across sectors, with most industries showing a clear majority of reports submitted anonymously. The highest levels of anonymous reporting appear in emergency services (80%), legal services (78%), airports & airlines (75%), pharmaceuticals (73%), nuclear (70%), utilities (70%), and care & support (64%). Several other sectors maintain anonymous rates above half, including retail (59%), healthcare (51%) and local government (50%).
Semi‑anonymous reporting shows notable variation, with higher proportions recorded in private equity (37%), mining (35%), non‑profit (28%), support services (25%), technology (17%), and engineering (17%).
Named reporting is more common in certain industries. Higher proportions appear in support services (41%), facilities management (41%), sport (38%), manufacturing (31%), engineering (31%), healthcare (32%), and logistics (33%). Several sectors show around one‑fifth of cases named, including retail (24%), professional services (24%), leisure (20%), and private equity (20%). The lowest levels of named reporting appear in emergency services (9%), legal services (11%), and nuclear (13%).
Anonymous vs. semi-anonymous vs. named reports by industry sector
| Anonymous | Semi-anonymous | Named | |
| Airports & airlines | 75% | 9% | 16% |
| Banking & finance | 62% | 18% | 20% |
| Care & support | 64% | 20% | 16% |
| Construction | 62% | 17% | 21% |
| Education | 65% | 19% | 16% |
| Emergency services | 80% | 11% | 9% |
| Engineering | 52% | 17% | 31% |
| Facilities management | 39% | 20% | 41% |
| Food processing & wholesale | 57% | 14% | 29% |
| Healthcare | 51% | 17% | 32% |
| Housing associations | 67% | 10% | 23% |
| Legal services | 78% | 11% | 11% |
| Leisure | 62% | 18% | 20% |
| Local government | 50% | 29% | 21% |
| Logistics | 48% | 19% | 33% |
| Manufacturing | 55% | 14% | 31% |
| Mining | 30% | 35% | 35% |
| Non-profit | 44% | 28% | 28% |
| Nuclear | 70% | 17% | 13% |
| Oil & gas | 45% | 29% | 26% |
| Pharmaceuticals | 73% | 7% | 20% |
| Private equity | 43% | 37% | 20% |
| Professional services | 44% | 32% | 24% |
| Retail | 59% | 17% | 24% |
| Sport | 55% | 7% | 38% |
| Support services | 34% | 25% | 41% |
| Technology | 50% | 17% | 33% |
| Utilities | 70% | 16% | 14% |
Elevate your speak-up culture
Whether you’re looking to strengthen governance, improve reporting confidence, or build a more transparent and responsive culture, our specialists can help you take your speak‑up programme to the next level.
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