Status of sickness absence in the workers of a home appliance manufacturing company

In recent years, sickness absence in industrialized societies has been accompanied by a lot of costs and problems and is still increasing. In addition, sickness absence is progressively used as a health indicator among the workforce. The aim of this study was to determine and compare the status of absenteeism due to illness in workers of a home appliance company.

This cross-sectional study was conducted on workers of a home appliance manufacturing company from September 2015 till September 2016. Information about the number of days and episodes of sickness absence and personal information was collected.

The sickness absence in blue-collar worker was higher than the white-collar groups (OR=2.20, and P-value < 0.001). In addition, the total and long-term absence in shift workers was higher than non-shift workers. Also, older age and higher body mass index was associated with lower sickness absence. Long-term sickness absence was more common among smokers than non-smokers.

Findings of this study show that sickness absence among workers can be affected by various demographic and occupational factors including age, body mass index, smoking status, and work group.