Strong link between health risks and absence costs
Association of health risks with the cost of time away from work. Wright DW, Beard MJ, Edington DW. J Occup Environ Med. 2002. 44: 1126-1134.
Aim
To assess the full costs associated with absenteeism and to investigate the impact of different health risk factors on time away from work.
Looked at
6,220 hourly employees of Steelcase Incorporated (US) who participated in a wellness programme and took at least one health risk appraisal between 1998 and 2000.
How?
- Health risk appraisal data were used to categorise individuals as low (0-2 risk factors), medium (3-4 risk factors) or high (≥5 risk factors) risk, and costs associated with time away from work were compared.
Results
-
4,090 employees were absent from work at some point and the associated costs totalled US$14.3 million.
Risk category
Proportion of employees who had time away from work (%)
Mean annual costs related to time away from work ($)
Low
61.0
1,096
Medium
73.8
1,224
High
81.0
1,764
What does this mean?
The association between health risk level and costs related to time away from work is strong. If absence costs follow risk reduction, a potential annual savings of $1.7 million could be achieved in this study.