Sickness absence in a Singapore refinery

Abstract

Most of the literature on sickness absenteeism is derived from western countries where absenteeism is high and has been rising over the years. Less is known of the situation in the newly developing countries of the east. This paper analyses sickness absenteeism in male industrial employees in a major oil refinery in Singapore in 1982. On average each worker had 5.1 spells and 7.0 working days of absence attributed to illness. Absenteeism increased with age, and shift workers were found to have twice as much sick leave as day workers. However more younger workers had longer durations of absence than older workers. This was because chronic medical conditions more commonly associated with increasing age did not contribute significantly to long spells of absence. A variety of surgical operations, followed by accidents, were the main causes of long absences. The absence rate of 7.0 days per worker was much lower than most of the published data from Europe, and was comparable to two shipyards in Singapore.