Headline data from 2007/08 Self-reported Work-related Illness questionnaire module included in the national Labour Force Survey (LFS)

• In 2007/08, an estimated 241 000 people in Great Britain who had worked in the last year believed they were suffering from a musculoskeletal disorder mainly affecting the back that was caused or made worse by their current or past work, according to the LFS (see Table SWIT3W12). This equates to 800 per 100 000 people (0.8%) in Great Britain who worked in the last 12 months.
• Of these, just under a third, 74 000 people, first became aware of their work-related musculoskeletal disorder mainly affecting the back in the previous 12 months.  This equates to an estimated 240 per 100 000 people (0.24%) with a new work-related musculoskeletal disorder mainly affecting the back in this period (see Table SWIT6W12).
• This incidence rate was statistically significantly lower than in both 2001/02 and 2006/07, but of a similar order to 2003/04, 2004/05 and 2005/06. (see Table SWIT6W12SIG).
• The LFS shows that an estimated 4.1 million working days (full-day equivalent) were lost in 2007/08 through musculoskeletal disorders mainly affecting the back caused or made worse by work (see Table SWIT1). On average, each person suffering took an estimated 17.2 days off in that 12 month period. This equates to an annual loss of 0.17 days per worker.
• The number of days lost per worker in 2007/08 was statistically significantly lower than in 2001/02 but of a similar order to other years over the period 2003/04 to 2006/07 (see Table SWIT1SIG).

Demographic and employment related breakdowns from SWI06/07

Detailed analysis from the 2007/08 Labour Force Survey is not yet available. Therefore for analysis by age, sex, region, occupation, industry and workplace size results from the 2006/07 survey provides the latest data. Full details are available from the 2006/07 main report. Some summary bullet points follow:

In 2006/07:

• The prevalence rate of self-reported work-related back disorders for males was of a similar order to that for females. For both genders, rates were higher in the older working age groups (see Table BACKAGE1E)
• There were no statistically significant differences between countries or regions in the prevalence rates of self-reported work-related back disorders, with the exception of the East, where the rate was statistically significantly lower than that for England (see Table BACKGOR1E).
• Agriculture, health, construction, and transport industries carried the highest prevalence rates for self-reported work-related back disorders. (see Table BACKIND2_3YR). Certain occupational groups within these industries also have the highest rates (see Table BACKOCC2_3YR)
• Medium-sized workplaces had a statistically significantly lower prevalence rate than the rate for small workplaces, but similar to the rate for large workplaces. (see Table BACKSIZE2)

Other information on work-related back disorders from THOR and IIDB sources is available in main MSD commentary.