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Staff sick days cost council £3m a year
SICK days for council workers are costing the taxpayer more than £3 million a year in Barnsley.
Illness and accidents among Barnsley Council workers led to staff taking 41,509 sick days in the last financial year - a rise of more than 4,000 days on the previous year when 37,438 were lost to sickness.
A report on health and safety said absences cost the authority 3,037,721 compared to 2,652,108 the previous year.
The report from senior council officers highlights areas for improvement at the council, which saw the number of accidents at work go up in a year from 360 to 374.
The report says: "Throughout the year much has been achieved. However, there is still much that can be done in striving for continuous improvement.
"Some aspects of health and safety performance have declined, reiterating the need for directorates, divisions, services and indeed all individuals to strive to maintain a healthy working environment."
The report highlights a rise in aggressive incidents against staff in a year from 407 to 437 which resulted in employees taking more than three days off sick.
Teachers and support staff were the most likely to be targets of violence and aggression, with 180 incidents reported in Barnsley schools last year.
And social services staff were also in the firing line with 163 incidents recorded by those working with children and 42 by those working with children and young people.
But there was a drop in major injuries from 11 incidents down to two, with a teacher disclocating her knee after slipping on a wet floor and a woman who broke her foot tripping on a flight of stairs.
Fewer people took time off work for mental health or emotional problems down to 22,979 days, compared to 24,741 days.
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Weather for Sheffield
Wednesday 23 May 2012
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