This paper discusses the relation between absence from work and wage level and absence and the number of dependants. The extent of overtime working is also considered. The investigation was made in a large iron and steel works. Description of FirmThe plant is modern and the various processes of preparing the iron ores through to steel rolling are highly mechanized. There is a considerable diversity of occupations and physical conditions of work with few men employed on any one operation. Owing to the processes involved most production men are on continuous three-shift work, the plant being manned 24 hours a day throughout the year. The remainder of the men are mainly on discontinuous three-shift systems, work stopping over the whole or part of the weekend.The majority of jobs in a section are arranged in promotion grades with corresponding differences in basic pay. In addition to the basic rate, men on production work receive a bonus dependent upon the output of their own or an associated section.Since the productivity of a department is largely determined by the capacity of the plant, skilful maintenance, and the supply of materials, this bonus is often relatively remote from individual effort and may be considered as part of a fixed wage. As well as the various wage levels within a department there are also differences in wage level between departments which have developed over the years. Thus jobs at the same wage level do not necessarily require the same skill and responsibility.Other factors relevant to the study are the existence of a comprehensive medical service with two fulltime medical officers and a staff of qualified nurses, and an employees' benevolent scheme which provides just over £1 per week after 14 days' sickness absence. There was a labour shortage in the works during the period studied. The absence rate was about 4 % at which level the management did not consider absence to be a problem.
The early studies of the Health of Munition Workers Committee and of the Industrial Fatigue Research Board clearly demonstrated the effects of conditions of work on lost time. Loveday (1917) showed that when hours of work were long absence increased and that this was particularly marked on heavy work. Vernon (1920) Walker, 1956). However, the relative importance of these factors can only be assessed after the effects of the physical conditions on absence have been determined. It therefore seemed desirable to re-examine the relation between absence and the physical conditions of work. This paper gives the results of studies in an engineering firm and two iron and steel works where, on the whole, the conditions have improved markedly and bear little resemblance to those described in the earlier reports.The iron and steel works were large plants employing about 4,000 and 7,000 male workers, excluding staff employees. All the processes which go to make steel products such as strip, plate, or sections, were carried out on each site. The main departments included ore preparation plants, sinter plants, coke ovens, blast furnaces, steel melting shops, and rolling mills. Most of the departments had been built or reconstructed since 1930, and many of them since the war. The working conditions were probably representative of other large undertakings in the industry. The engineering works contained a foundry and a forge in addition to three heavy engineering departments.Sources of Data The required information was copied from the firms' records. Such details as a man's age, length of service, and job were taken from the personnel cards; wages and income tax code number (an approximate index of family responsibilities) were extracted from the wages cards. The absences were obtained for 1952 from the absence record cards where these were maintained, and wherever possible their reliability was checked against samples of clock cards. In one of the steel firms which did not generally keep separate absence records the information was obtained from the wages cards. These were weekly records and it was not possible to determine the exact number of short-term absences although the amount of lost time was stated accurately. In one department the information had to be collected directly from the clock cards. The reasons for absence and other data, such as a list of the registered disabled persons, were recorded when they were available. Assessment of ConditionsThe multiplicity of jobs in the works made it impracticable for the investigators to attempt an objective measurement of the conditions of work. The assessment of conditions was therefore obtained from the managers and foremen who were asked to rate and rank the jobs according to the conditions which were associated with them. This was done for 296 jobs which included different and similar occupations; the latter were in different departments. The manager or foreman was given a number of cards on each of which was written the name of one of the principal jobs in his department...
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