Council staff sickness rates hit five-year high

STAFF sickness due to work-related stress has hit a five-year high at Dumfries and Galloway Council.

And the number of accidents suffered by local authority employees is also the highest it’s been since before the pandemic.

With a 6500 strong workforce, the council is the largest employer in the region.

However, there were 171 absences recorded last year due to work-related stress – which equated to 4822 work days lost.

This is an increase of 20 percent on the stats for 2023/24 where there were 143 absences due to work stress, and 4517 days lost.

The figures are collated in a report for councillors. It states: “The numbers show a slight increase from the previous reporting year across the number of instances, number of days and hours lost, number of individual staff absent and percentage of staff who were absent for work-related accidents and work-related stress.”

The number of accidents at work rose to 71 last year, and resulted in 1051 working days lost - up from 53 and 757 in 2023/24.

The council also records the percentage of staff who have been absent from work due to ill health.

Last year, the figure was 3.45 percent of all workers – compared to 2.78 percent and 2.07 percent the two previous years.

Meanwhile, injuries sustained by council employees were also outlined in the report, totalling 21 last year, a decrease on 23 for the previous year.

Eight were suffered by staff working in schools, six were in catering and facilities management, four were sustained by waste collection staff, and two involved roads workers.

The council report explains: “Two thirds of the incidents over the year were arising from slips, trips and falls, with the remainder thinly spread across a range of event types including violence, manual handling, equipment failure and injuries sustained using equipment and injuries sustained exiting a vehicle.

Councillors will discuss the statistics and ways to improve them at the audit, risk, and scrutiny committee next Tuesday.