HSE guide to tackle absence at work

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has identified six key elements in developing best practice for dealing with sickness absence and return to work.Launching the best practice guide at the National Employment and Health Innovations Network meeting in Manchester, Elizabeth Gyngell, head of the HSE's stress programme, said research undertaken by the HSE had revealed that barriers to return to work included social and organisational factors as well as health issues.The HSE said its new approach to managing sickness absence had six

key elements:

Recording and analysing sickness absence

Keeping in contact with the sick employee

Planning workplace adjustment

Using professional advice

Agreeing and reviewing a return to work plan

Co-ordinating the process.

Gyngell said some of these elements were established practice, but were not widespread.She said the HSE was planning to introduce web-based learning modules on managing sickness absence and return to work in early 2005.The HSE will also introduce a sickness absence recording tool to help small-to-medium-sized businesses manage absence and return to work, as well as preventing work-related harm.More information on the best practice guide is available on the HSE website:
www.hse.gov.uk/sicknessabsence

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