Physical activity at work can improve the health of your workforce….. and the health of your business.

“Physical INactivity is a major health risk and is one of the top 10 leading causes of death and disability in the world” (World Health Organisation, 2002)

What are the costs associated with physical Inactivity?

A number of risk factors have been identified as being related to sickness absence, including overall health, job satisfaction and adverse social circumstances (Office for National Statistics, 2002).

Ill health is known to cost businesses through:

• Cost of absenteeism and long term sick pay
• Cost of temporary staff
• Loss of production
• Retention of staff, staff turnover and early retirement
• Ill health may also contribute to low morale, decreased job satisfaction and industrial injuries.

• A large proportion (40%) of time lost at work is accounted for by long-term absence of 20 days or more (Office of National Statistics, 2002).

• Workplace absence in the UK averaged 7.8 days per employee per year in 2000 – a total of 192 million days or 3.4% of total working time. These figures are rising. In 2004, workplace absence averaged 9 days per employee per year.  The average reported cost of sickness is £588 per employee per year (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, 2004).

• Projected across the whole workforce, the total cost of absence to British business is £11.6m (CBI, 2004).

• Back pain remains the no. 1 cause of sickness absence among manual workers, followed by musculo-skeletal injuries, acute medical conditions and stress (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, 2004).

• Stress is the leading cause of long-term absence among non-manual workers (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, 2004).

• Physically active employees take 27% fewer days sick leave, which equates to over 2 days improved attendance and a saving of £135 per employee per year (Physical Activity Taskforce, 2003).

For detailed examples of the benefits to businesses and employees, please click on the black boxes to the right.