04 July 2003
Sickness absence costs the roads and water services in Northern Ireland more than £2m a year, the auditor general has found.
In a report this week, John Dowdall said that 40,000 days were lost in 2001/02 among the agencies' 2,000 manual or industrial staff – one of the highest sickness absence rates in the UK.
The main reasons were accidents and injuries, closely followed by 'bad backs'.
The report recommends that both agencies set managers targets to cut the rate of sickness absence.
PFjul2003
