Your employees are your most precious asset – are you getting the most from your investment?

 

Poor staff health and unplanned absences pose a multitude of risks to your business. In today’s pressurised work environment those risks are rising.

 

Lost productivity – In 2004 it was estimated that 2.2 million people were suffering from an illness which they believed was caused or made worse by their current or past work.  Many thousands of staff are made ill by the work they do, whether through stress, accidents or environmental factors like noise, vibration or exposure to harmful substances.

 

Sickness absence of only 5% would cost a typical firm with 370 employees, earning average salaries of £15,000, nearly £300,000 a year, in salary costs alone.

 

Several thousand people die each year from past exposures at work - Each year an estimated 6000 people die from cancer due to past exposures at work such Mesothelioma, a cancer caused mainly by occupational exposure to asbestos.

 

What are the most common types of work-related illness?  

·         Musculoskeletal disorders – in particular those affecting the back and upper limbs  caused by incorrect lifting and stretching

·         Stress and other types of mental illness.

 

The HSE reports; that both self-reporting surveys and surveillance by specialist doctors show each of these accounting for around a third of the total of all illnesses.

 

The Confederation of British Industry estimates the direct cost of sickness absence a staggering £11.6 billion

 

Add to that the cost of:

 

• Lost output
• Overtime for other staff
• Temporary personnel
• Heightened stress within the workplace
• Recruitment and training of replacements
• Damaged customer relations

 

Poor physical or psychological health can hurt a business in other ways:

 

• Loss of good quality staff
• Underperformance
• Conflict in the workplace
• Accidents and dangerous occurrences
• Claims against the company
• Damaged reputation

 

Recognising absence due to ill health is the first step in reducing the cost to your company. Early intervention by Occupational Health professionals has been proved to reduce absence and boost your bottom line.