- Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) affect the back, neck and limbs, and are one of the largest causes of work-related ill health (HSE, 2023/24: 543,000 workers, 7.8 million working days lost).
- The main workplace causes are manual handling, awkward or static postures, repetitive movement and poor workstation setup.
- Employers have specific duties under the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 and the Display Screen Equipment Regulations 1992.
- Early reporting, workstation and task assessment, and timely access to physiotherapy or occupational health keep people in work and prevent recurrence.
Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) – conditions affecting the muscles, joints, tendons and nerves – are among the most common and costly causes of work absence. HSE figures for 2023/24 record 543,000 workers with a work-related MSD and 7.8 million working days lost to them. They affect office workers and manual workers alike, and because they often build up gradually, they are frequently well established by the time they come to an employer's attention.
What counts as a musculoskeletal disorder
MSD is an umbrella term for conditions affecting the back, neck, shoulders, arms, wrists, hands and lower limbs. They range from short-lived discomfort to persistent, disabling conditions. Back problems are the single largest category, followed by disorders of the upper limbs and neck. Many are cumulative, developing over months from the ordinary demands of a job rather than from a single injury.
For most musculoskeletal problems, staying active and supported at work aids recovery more than waiting at home.
Why MSDs happen at work
The common workplace causes are well understood: manual handling such as lifting and carrying; awkward, static or sustained postures; repetitive movements; forceful exertion; and display-screen work at a poorly set-up workstation. Whole-body and hand-arm vibration add risk in some roles. Rates are higher than average in administrative and support activities, construction, and transport and storage, though no sector is immune, and individual factors mean two people in the same role may be affected very differently.
Good practice
MSDs are frequently cumulative rather than the result of a single event, and an employee may not connect their symptoms to work at all. Encouraging early, blame-free reporting is one of the most effective preventive steps an employer can take, because problems caught early are far easier to resolve.
Your legal duties
Several duties apply. The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 require you to assess significant risks, including those that lead to MSDs. The Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 require you to avoid hazardous manual handling so far as is reasonably practicable, to assess what cannot be avoided, and to reduce the risk. The Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992 require workstation assessments for regular display-screen users, including homeworkers. The HSE provides practical assessment tools for this, including the MAC chart for manual handling, ART for repetitive tasks and RAPP for pushing and pulling.
Preventing MSDs
Prevention is more effective, and far less costly, than treatment. Practical measures include:
- Designing tasks and workstations around the person, and providing handling aids where lifting cannot be avoided.
- Manual handling training for the roles that need it, refreshed periodically.
- Building in job rotation, task variety and breaks to reduce sustained or repetitive load.
- Assessing display-screen workstations for office-based and home-based staff.
- Fostering a culture where people report early discomfort without fear of blame.
Managing MSDs when they occur
When symptoms do arise, early action matters most: the longer someone waits, the harder recovery becomes. For most common MSDs the evidence favours staying active and, where it is safe, remaining at or returning to work on modified duties, rather than waiting at home until symptoms have fully resolved. Timely access to assessment, to physiotherapy and to occupational health advice keeps people in work and reduces the chance of a problem becoming long-term.
Medwyn tip
For most common musculoskeletal problems, prolonged rest and complete avoidance of activity tend to slow recovery. Suitable modified duties that keep someone active and at work, guided by clinical advice, usually support a faster and more durable recovery than waiting until they feel fully better.
Where occupational health fits
Occupational health helps at both ends of the problem. On prevention, we provide ergonomic and display-screen assessments and advise on task and workstation design. When someone is affected, a management referral gives you work-focused advice on fitness and adjustments, and we can arrange private physiotherapy through an HCPC-registered network to support recovery. Managed this way, most people with an MSD stay in work or return to it quickly.
This article is general guidance for employers and is not individual medical or legal advice. If you are unsure how it applies to your organisation, contact our team.