Workplace Absenteeism for Medical Reasons in the Handling and Transport Company in Conakry: A Survey Study

Abstract

Introduction: Absences from work generate financial costs and reduce the productivity of the company. The objective was to study absences for medical reasons in the workplace, particularly in a company that carries out the activities of conventional handling by the continuous loading and unloading of any type of goods, the activities of berthing of containers, storage. Material and Methods: This was a 2-year retrospective study of the files of workers absent for medical reasons. We had carried out a descriptive analysis of absences and an evaluation of the financial costs and the number of working days lost by the company. Results: Fifty-five percent (55%) of the workers had had at least one absence with an average absenteeism rate of 1.58%/year. The average number of days of absence per worker was 12.85 days and the average number of stoppages was 2.25. The main medical reasons for stoppages were ordinary pathologies 66.27% of stoppages and surgical pathologies i.e. 22.34%. Multiple stops were statistically significant with gender (p=0.01), age (p=0.03) and seniority (p<0.001). Conclusion: ordinary infectious or non-infectious diseases and surgical pathologies were the main medical reasons for absenteeism in this company. Furthermore, gender, age and seniority were closely related to multiple stops.