In 2005-06, 1,958,000 people in the UK reported suffering from an illness that was caused or made worse by their current or past work. Of these, 52% reported musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), and 21% reported stress, depression or anxiety.

In terms of the 523,000 new cases of work-related illness reported in this period, these two types of disorder accounted for 73% of cases (37% for stress, depression or anxiety, and 36% for MSDs). This reflects the incidence rate (the rate at which new cases occurred in the population during the time period rather than the prevalence rate (the proportion of the population who were cases at a point in time.