asked Her Majesty's Government:
What assessment they have made of the campaign over the past three months to reduce sickness amongst the employees of the Northern Ireland Tourist Board.[HL7887]
The Northern Ireland Tourist Board (NITB) has reported a reduction in sickness absence rates from 7.25 per cent in June 2006 to 4.24 per cent in September 2006. Reduction in sick absence rates occurred within both the long-term and short-term sick absence monitoring categories as detailed in the following table.
Month Days lost Per cent staff no. absence Absence (per cent) Short-term absence Long-term absence April 167 82 7.64 2.34 5.30 May 194 86 7.10 1.39 5.71 June 205 83 7.25 1.42 5.83 July 133 88 5.39 1.54 3.85 August 155 90 5.37 1.84 3.53 September 114 92 4.24 0.59 3.65
The number of long-term absence cases has fallen from eight staff members in April to May 2006 to three members of staff at present. All staff have been made aware of the new absence triggers which prompt early consideration/action. These are being closely monitored and issued by the human resources department within the NITB.