Sickness absence in the freezing industry.

A study was undertaken to determine the aetiology and incidence of sickness absence in two freezing works in the South Island. The study was carried out in a 12 month period from May 1982 to April 1983. Each participant, in addition to a sickness absence questionnaire, was given a job stress questionnaire, to determine the effect of stress factors on absenteeism. A further job involvement questionnaire was used to assess prevailing attitudes to work. It was found that sickness caused by zoonotic illness accounted for only 6.8% of all absences. The majority of sickness absences were caused by nonzoonotic viral infections 39.3%, surgical operations 17.1%; and stress related disease 15.4%. It was concluded that stress related illness was a greater cause of sickness absence than zoonotic illness in the survey period.