With ‘National Sickie Day’ fast approaching, employers are being urged to take action to address absence from work.
According to the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP), surveys have suggested that the first Monday in February (which falls on the 7th, next week) is the day when most people call in sick to work, and absenteeism rates reach their yearly high.
The Society says employers can help prevent sickness absence by encouraging staff to be more active in the workplace and adopt healthier habits. The advice follows a survey the CSP carried out among some 2600 adults last year, which found that 25 per cent of employees regularly work through the day without taking a break, while 46 per cent reported physical pain due to working in the same position for a long time.
Consequently, the Society is using its ‘Move for Health’ campaign to call on employers and the government to recognise the value of occupational physiotherapy in the fight against work-related ill health.
Chartered physiotherapist Clare Claridge explained: “Exercise is an excellent way to improve your health and help your state of mind. There is nothing worse than being cooped up in an office behind a desk all day for your mental and physical well-being.
“That’s why physios want employers to continue reminding their staff of the need to take breaks during their working day, get out of the office, take some exercise, and talk to their colleagues or manager of they are feeling under excess pressure. Taking regular exercise is great because it helps to relieve the pressure, allowing you to get some breathing space, which will ensure you can perform well when you get back.”
The Society has produced a number of free leaflets designed to help employers keep their staff healthy. To download ‘Fit for work’, ‘Fitness profits’, and ‘Sickness costs’ visit www.csp.org.uk/moveforhealth
In this episode of the Safety & Health Podcast, ‘Burnout, stress and being human’, Heather Beach is joined by Stacy Thomson to discuss burnout, perfectionism and how to deal with burnout as an individual, as management and as an organisation.
We provide an insight on how to tackle burnout and why mental health is such a taboo subject, particularly in the workplace.
