Some 2m workers suffer from ill health, which they believe was caused or made worse by work, according to a report by the Health and Safety Executive. HSE said its findings covering the period 2004-05 were equivalent to "28m working days lost to the British economy every year".

Musculoskeletal disorders were the biggest cause of work-related ill health, with about 1m people suffering MSDs that they believed had been caused or made worse by work. Another 500,000 claimed to be suffering from work-related stress, the next biggest category. Professions suffering above-average rates for work-related illness, included health and social welfare, teaching and research professionals and skilled construction and building trades.