Occupational health provision and sickness management

Contents

• The issue
• What we did
• The improvement and benefits

The issue

Aviance is a UK based company and is part of the Go-Ahead group. It provides a comprehensive range of airport services including baggage handling. The management of staff sickness including occupational health provision is seen as a key area to improve working conditions and business profitability.

What we did

A pilot scheme was run at Heathrow airport to improve staff sickness absence due to occupational causes.  The pilot was a success and so, the company implemented this occupational health initiative across the UK to provide:

• pre-employment and health screening;
• sickness management;
• physiotherapy services and rehabilitation programmes.

Union representatives were involved in the introduction of the service and managers were trained to deliver the services across all sites.

Aviance can now offer immediate access to assessment and treatment for injuries such as musculoskeletal, supported by trained physiotherapists.

The improvement and benefits

• A reduction in overall sickness absence.
• A reduction in long term absence due to manual handling injuries.
• A reduction in accident claims when early intervention is applied.
• A reduction in company sick pay by reducing absenteeism.
• Early referral system - appointments within 48 hours which minimises time off work.
• Improved staff morale.
• Increased awareness throughout the company of the benefits of positive management of health and safety issues.

"Essentially, handling is a people business and our staff are our most valuable asset – that’s something we can’t afford to overlook"
Arthur Dodgson, Aviance CEO.

"We recognise that prevention of sickness absence has to be the priority. Nevertheless, this scheme has proved to be one of those happy ‘win-win’ situations."
Eric Gainey, Senior Manager, Safety Standards and the Environment.