HUMAN WASTE Workers in the waste and recycling industry are far more likely to go sick - but officials can't tell the cause because the sickness data is rubbish.
Workers in the UK waste and recycling industry have much higher sickness rates than other local authority workers, research by a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) agency has found.
Review of sickness absence data in the waste and recycling industry, a report prepared by the Health and Safety Laboratory (HSL), found the sector recorded more days off work than other departments within local government. It also found record keeping was inconsistent and inadequate, so data “failed to accurately capture the reasons for absence”.
The report revealed local authority employees in the waste industry had an average of 12.8 days’ absence. In contrast, the Local Government Employers (LGE) absence survey, published in 2007, reported an average of 9.6 days’ absence for wider local authority workers.
HSL statistician Dr Eileen Holmes, the author of the report, commented: “The research revealed some interesting findings and indicated there are higher rates of absenteeism in local authority waste workers than in the wider public sector.” She said, however, variations in the quality of data collected by local authorities “meant it has not been possible to identify the most common reason for someone taking time off work and, it follows, to recommend measures to highlight and address those underlying causes.”
The study looked at data compiled in 2007 and 2008 from 16 local authorities and two private companies.
“The current system makes it near impossible to determine the most frequently occurring absences or to properly compare like for like,” Dr Holmes added, calling for standardised criteria for recording this information.
Waste and recycling is a sick industry
HUMAN WASTE Workers in the waste and recycling industry are far more likely to go sick - but officials can't tell the cause because the sickness data is rubbish.
Workers in the UK waste and recycling industry have much higher sickness rates than other local authority workers, research by a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) agency has found.
Review of sickness absence data in the waste and recycling industry, a report prepared by the Health and Safety Laboratory (HSL), found the sector recorded more days off work than other departments within local government. It also found record keeping was inconsistent and inadequate, so data “failed to accurately capture the reasons for absence”.
The report revealed local authority employees in the waste industry had an average of 12.8 days’ absence. In contrast, the Local Government Employers (LGE) absence survey, published in 2007, reported an average of 9.6 days’ absence for wider local authority workers.
HSL statistician Dr Eileen Holmes, the author of the report, commented: “The research revealed some interesting findings and indicated there are higher rates of absenteeism in local authority waste workers than in the wider public sector.” She said, however, variations in the quality of data collected by local authorities “meant it has not been possible to identify the most common reason for someone taking time off work and, it follows, to recommend measures to highlight and address those underlying causes.”
The study looked at data compiled in 2007 and 2008 from 16 local authorities and two private companies.
“The current system makes it near impossible to determine the most frequently occurring absences or to properly compare like for like,” Dr Holmes added, calling for standardised criteria for recording this information.