1. Investing in health at work: Saving billions by reducing sickness absence – case Finland
Mikko Rissanen

2. General background Health & safety at work has a key role to:
- make work more productive and
- improve the well-being of their personnel
Most workplaces are small and they don´t have special trained OSH staff
=> inadequate know-how with health related questions
To improve the situation we need generally accepted and comprehensible facts and calculations
Etunimi Sukunimi

3. Background for calculations
The report: “Cost of lost labour input”, available on NDPHS homepage
Calculations are based on the employee´s total wage sum including non-wage labour costs (when possible)
Calculations are conservative estimates, they all based on year 2012 (yearly estimates)
Our aim was to quantify minimum level of costs of lost labour input
Etunimi Sukunimi

4. Sickness absence
Cost of lost labour input = price of a sickness day * number of sickness days
Calculation separately for long-term sickness leaves (> 10 days) and for the short ones
In Finland cost of lost labour input due to sickness absence was 3,4 billion €
Etunimi Sukunimi

5. Presenteeism
Presenteeism accounts for higher loss of productivity than absenteeism (absence due to sickness)
Conclusion: Value of presenteeism ≈ value of absenteeism
Cost of presenteeism
≈ 3,4 billion €
Etunimi Sukunimi

6. Occupational accidents and diseases
Total costs of occupational accidents and diseases are divided into:
direct costs and
indirect costs
Direct costs are mainly the same as accident insurance compensations = 0,584 billion €
Indirect costs are 3-4 times higher than direct costs ≈ 1,5 - 2,0 billion €
Etunimi Sukunimi

7. Disability pensions
Finland lost work years due to disability pensions in 2012
Cost of lost labour input was calculated using annual wage sums by educational levels
Loss of potential labour input ≈ 8,0 billion €
Etunimi Sukunimi

8. Health care expenditure in Finland
Health care costs of working-age population without preventive measures
≈ 7,8 billion €
Etunimi Sukunimi

9. Summary Sickness absence 3,4 billion € Presenteeism, working while ill
Occupational accidents and diseases
2,1 - 2,6 billion €
Disability pensions
8,0 billion €
Cost of health care
7,8 billion €
Totally 24, ,95 billion € (any overlapping costs has been subtracted)
Etunimi Sukunimi

10. Outcomes
These calculations have a wide acceptance in Finland especially concerning the cost of sickness absence
Concept of presenteeism is difficult to understand (people usually understand only their own experience with flu)
Occupational accidents, occupational diseases and work disability are non-frequent for most small workplaces
Etunimi Sukunimi

11. Next steps Who is paying these costs? => next calculations
Need for simple preventive actions and solutions
What are the indirect long term effects?
Linkage to well-being at work and productivity
OSH organisations broader view of occupational health and safety
Etunimi Sukunimi