↑ Grab this Headline Animator

UK Workers No Heat Shirkers

Evidence following the recent heat wave suggests UK workers did not 's8220;chuck a sickie's8221; to enjoy the good weather. In fact workers made every effort to turn up for work despite the rising temperatures, says Alan Aldridge, founder and director of absence management experts FirstCare Health and Absence.



's8220;During the heat wave we saw absence rates across our clients actually running at 3.8% lower than average, with the number of calls we received from people calling to report in sick also dropping to 16% lower than average,'s8221; says Alan, 's8220;it is wrong to portray the UK worker as a workshy shirker who drops his responsibilities at the first sign of the sun peering through the clouds.'s8221;



's8220;We specifically saw a decrease in absence across all our emergency services clients, including the NHS, Fire Services and office based workers. We believe this is because emergency service workers understand the importance of their roles given the high temperatures and are prepared to ignore their own discomfort to ensure that they don's8217;t let the public down.'s8221;



's8220;Another factor in the reduced level of absence during the mini heatwave could well be the fact that office based workers are generally more comfortable at work due to large open spaces and air conditioning 's8211; a reflection of employers understanding of climate change and the valuable benefit in making sure their employees are comfortable 's8211; during these temperatures it is just more comfortable to be at work than at home.'s8221;



's8220;The one area where we did see a rise in absence during this period was amongst manual workers who called in with heat-related absences more than usual 's8211; our nurses were able to give these people advice on how to deal with sunstroke and other heat-related problems. Given the forecast for another heat wave in August we would advise all organisations to take steps to ensure adequate provisions are made for employees, including water and sun protection for workers that are outside.'s8221;



Note to editor

FirstCare's8482; Health & Absence is led by Alan Aldridge who currently has one of the highest profiles in the Absence Management arena in the UK. It is his leading edge vision of how absence from the workplace should best be managed that has shaped the principles underpinning FirstCare's8217;s service.



Alan has been previous interviewed on radio and TV, and quoted in the daily and trade press. He is available for comment or live interview.



For further information please contact:

Moira Marsh on 0870 456 57 30

↑ Grab this Headline Animator

---

This article has been robotically scanned and tagged by Prnewsnow with the following search tags. No human manipulation of these tags take place.
| Dvx200 | United States | image quality resolutions |

---

4902 readers online...

, Local News