Managing sickness absence and return to work

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Managing sickness absence and return to work
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Managing sickness absence and return to work

• What I am going to talk about
• Problem of back pain
• Good health at work
• Good practice in managing sickness absence and
  return to work
• Help and advice

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Managing sickness absence and return to work

• Problem of back pain
• 2 million people suffered work related ill health
  in 2005/6
• 10 million working days lost due to work-related
  musculoskeletal disorders in 2005/06
• With an average of 17 days lost per case
• 80 of adults experience back pain at sometime

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Managing sickness absence and return to work

• What the law says
• No law that requires employers to rehabilitate
  their absent employees
• BUT
• Duties under the Health and Safety at Work Act
  1974 to control risks to individuals who have
  returned to work with continuing poor health.
• Duties under the Disability Discrimination Act
  1995 to make reasonable adjustments to enable
  disabled workers to continue working.

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Managing sickness absence and return to work

• Good health at work means
• Low levels of accidents and ill health
• Low levels of sickness absence
• Higher performance
• Greater employee energy and dynamism

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Managing sickness absence and return to work

• Good health at work includes
• Preventative action and sensible risk management
• Managing sickness absence and return to work

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Managing sickness absence and return to work

• Sickness absence is a matter of
• Health condition
• Personal, and
• Occupational factors
• The last two get more important as absence
  progresses

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Managing sickness absence and return to work

• Four tenets
• Early intervention
• Work is not harmful if properly managed
• Return to work can happen before symptoms cease
• Return to work is part of any treatment

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Managing sickness absence and return to work

• Six element approach
• Recording sickness absence
• Keeping in contact
• Planning and undertaking workplace adjustments
• Making use of professional or other advice and
  treatment
• Agreeing and reviewing a return to work plan
• Coordinating the return to work process

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Managing sickness absence and return to work

• Temporary workplace adjustments
• Recommended to facilitate an early return to work
• Consult the employee, Trade Union representatives
  and occupational health professionals
• Should aim to make the workplace more
  accommodating when people are ill
• Reasonable adjustments required under the
  Disability Discrimination Act 1995 for disabled
  workers

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Managing sickness absence and return to work

• In designing workplace adjustments consider
• Ergonomic factors
• adaptations to furniture
• lifting aids and footrests
• Alterations to the premises
• improved lighting
• better access
• Work patterns
• phased return to work
• different tasks
• job rotation
• changes to working hours

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Managing sickness absence and return to work

• Case Study
• Print worker loading paper into guillotines and
  suffers from back pain

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Managing sickness absence and return to work

• A solution
• Reduce bending by using scissor table to raise
  paper from the ground

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Managing sickness absence and return to work

• Case Study
• In the production of medical devices wax moulds
  were used. After use they had to be cleaned

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Managing sickness absence and return to work

• A solution
• The rack was redesigned using lighter materials
  and easier to grip handle
• A drain board was provided

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Managing sickness absence and return to work

• Making it happen
• Commitment and leadership from the top
• Skilled and confident line managers
• Partnership with the workforce

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Managing sickness absence and return to work

• Help and advice

www.hse.gov.uk/sicknessabsence
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Managing sickness absence and return to work

• In conclusion
• Managing sickness absence and return to work is
  integral to creating good health at work
• Associated with high performing and well managed
  organisations
• Its not rocket science simple practical steps
  can make all the difference