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The author examines the Boorman review, entitled "NHS Health and Wellbeing," published by the Great Britain National Health Service (NHS) in 2009. He believes that the report was important to occupational health because it contained a large number of recommendations that were significant to the future of specialist practice. He cites the appointment of regional specialists as stated in the report.

The article discusses a systematic review which concluded that sickness absence data from the past two years help to identify employees who will possibly have above-average sickness absence. The review found that days of sickness absence in the past year predict future days of sickness absence and episodes of sickness absence in the past two years predict future episodes of sickness absence. The concept of high-cost patients is established in other areas of healthcare.

The article discusses the lack of appreciation of the problem of absenteeism in the workplace. Focus is given to the 2011 survey of attendance management conducted by Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) for claiming significant improvement in attendance levels without actual rates and new recommendations. Some genuine insights published in the "British Medical Journal" highlighting that managers do not see a problem with absenteeism.

The author comments on an annual absence survey by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) in Great Britain. Short and long-term sickness rates reportedly require different management approaches, though surveys reveal that they are rarely reported separately. The author believes that there is a need for more sickness absence research to develop more effective absence management methods. Focus is given on how occupational health specialists can get involved in reducing short-term absence rates and disruptions due to short absences.

The article emphasizes the significance of investing in occupational health (OH) to personnel management in Great Britain. It argues that it is cheaper to invest in OH than to deal with sick leave. It describes the components of the benefit packages commonly offered by companies to their employees. It also explains the benefits that companies can get from investing in OH services.

The article focuses on the crisis being faced by occupational health (OH) nursing education in Great Britain. The biggest issue in health and work is sickness absence. About one million people will be absent from work due to illness, and many more will be in receipt of benefits and pensions because they are not well enough to work. Specialist curricula are not helping. It is perfectly possible to conclude training with very limited theoretical and practical focus on occupational health.

The article comments on the effectiveness of the first-day absence schemes in managing employee attendance. It cites that under the scheme, the employee who calls his company for being sick is asked a range of questions about the symptoms of his disease by nurses based in a call centre. It contends that there are no evidence that the scheme made significant contribution to attendance management. It provides information on the outcome of the implementation of the scheme by the York Council in England.