STRESS and RSI are the main workplace worries in the North-west, it is claimed.

But a survey of workplace union safety representatives for the TUC found that workers are also worried about having to contend with back strains, slips, trips and noise.

The main issues of concern in the region were:

Overwork and stress -- 51 per cent of workplaces;

Repetitive strain injuries (RSI) - 40 per cent of workplaces -- the second highest level of concern in Great Britain (GB);

Back strains -- 32 per cent of workplaces; Slips and trips on the level -- 31 per cent of workplaces.

Alan Manning, the North-west TUC Regional Secretary, said: "The suggestion that new hazards replace the old ones is not true.

"We cannot afford to be complacent when problems like noise and dust are still around, and new diseases like RSI need to be addressed in a partnership of unions and employers.

"Most worrying is that slips and trips, which cause 9,000 broken bones every year around the country, are such a feature of a third of the North-west's workplaces."