Musculoskeletal disorders

Size of workplace

The most recent information from the Labour Force Survey relating to self-reported work-related musculoskeletal disorders by size of workplace relates to 2007/08.

In 2007/08 prevalence rates for self reported musculoskeletal disorders were of similar order for small (< 50 employees), medium (50-249 employees) and large workplaces (250+ employees). For small workplaces the rate was 1400 per 100 000 people working in the last 12 months, 1500 per 100 000 for medium-sized and 1600 per 100 000 for large workplaces. The incidence rate for small businesses was found to be statistically significantly lower than those for large businesses in 2007/08. For small workplaces the incidence rate was 500 per 100 000 people employed in the last 12 months (0.5%), for medium sized 530 per 100 000 people (0.53%) and for large workplaces 680 per 100 000 people (0.68%).

For working days lost there was found to be no statistically significant difference in size of workplace (Tables MSDSIZE2 for prevalence data and MSDSIZE4 for incidence data and MSDSIZE6 for days lost data).