In 2003/04, an estimated 2,233,000 people in Great Britain believed they were suffering from an illness that was caused or made worse by their current or past work. This equates to 5.2% of people who have ever worked in Great Britain.

In total an estimated 27% of sufferers, i.e. 609 000 people ever employed, first became aware of their work-related illness in the previous 12 months. In terms of people employed in the last 12 months, this equates to an estimated 2.0% of people with a new case of work-related illness in this period. Of these 1,284,000 males suffered from a work-related illness, compared with 949,000 females.

An estimated three-quarters of those with a work-related illness were suffering from a musculoskeletal disorder or stress, depression or anxiety. Musculoskeletal disorders (bone, joint or muscle problems) were by far the most commonly reported work-related illness, with an estimated 1,108,000 people ever employed affected. Of these, around two fifths suffered from a disorder mainly affecting the back. Stress, depression or anxiety was the second most commonly reported illness followed by breathing and lung problems and some 81,000 people suffering from hearing problems.

Protective service occupations, health and social welfare professionals, skilled construction and building trades, teaching professionals, and skilled metal and electrical trades carried the highest rates of suffering from an illness caused or made worse
by the current or most recent job.

Trends = Good News?

Comparisons between the latest figures and those from the previous four surveys are affected by differences in survey design and the level of information collected. However, some broad comparisons can be made:

• Over the long term, the overall prevalence of self-reported work- related illness has fallen since 1990.
• The estimated prevalence rate of stress and related (mainly heart) conditions has increased during the 1990s and appears to have leveled off since 1998/99, at around double the level of 1990.
• The estimated prevalence rate for musculoskeletal disorders in 2003/ 04 was similar to that in 2001/02, but lower than in 1990 and 1995.

What of the Future?

From the comparisons it would appear that the levels of self-reported sickness is on the wane. Whilst no conclusion is drawn for the downward trends, it is fair to presume that improving work conditions, equipment and safer systems of work over the last decade are having an impact. However, the prevalence of both stress and musculoskeletal disorders (of which the majority are caused by manual handling) indicate that continued assessment and further improvements in our systems of work remain a priority to minimise the loss to industry of valuable workers and to continue the reduction in lost time injuries.