Paid sick leave- does it affect injury rates?

By Kelsey Morse
07/21/14

Does your company offer paid sick leave?

A recent study published in the American Journal of Public Health argues that it’s a good idea. It’s a commonly held belief that individuals who are ill should stay at home to prevent the spread of illness throughout their organizations. As knowlegeable safety professionals, it is easy for us to understand that sick employees may need to stay home to keep themselves from working in a state of heightened risk.

Sick employees are often fatigued, lacking proper sleep or medicated. This means that employees who are ill are less likely to be fully “present” while on the job. Sometimes, this absenteeism is caused by an illness suffered by an employee’s family member. Another recent study found that employees were 9% more likely to suffer an injury at work when one of their family members was hospitalized.

It’s not exactly a black and white correlation between offering sick leave and lower injury rates. There are many factors that contribute to occupational injury rates, so it can often be challenging for businesses to isolate the value of offering sick leave.

Enter this study, conducted by NIOSH and the CDC, which determined that workers who had paid sick leave were 28% less likely to suffer a nonfatal occupational injury than those who did not have paid sick leave. This difference was the greatest in high risk job sectors like manufacturing and construction.

So, does your company currently offer paid sick leave for your employees? If so, you’re forward thinking, but it’s possible that soon you’ll merely be current thinking. 16 states have introduced legislation to make paid sick leave something to which all full time employees have access. Requirements of the bills vary from state to state.

Is your state on the list?

Several states are headed in the direction of paid sick leave.

• Alaska
• Arizona
• California
• Hawaii
• Iowa
• Illinois
• Maryland
• Michigan
• Minnesota
• Nebraska
• New Jersey
• New York
• South Carolina
• Vermont
• Washington
• Wisconsin

Some other interesting findings in the study:

• When comparing organizations with and without paid sick leave, the biggest differences in injury rate were noted in organizations where employees suffer injuries caused by machines and struck by incidents
   
• In the date range 2005-2008, the nonfatal injury rate for employees with paid sick leave was 2.59 and the injury rate for those without paid sick leave was 4.18.

Want to read the study for yourself? Dr. Abay Asfaw’s article “Paid Sick Leave and Nonfatal Occupational Injuries” can be accessed through the American Journal of Public Health.

Want to join in on the discussion? Visit our blog, Coaching Safety to leave a comment!