by business editor Trevor Sturgess

Overall sick absence from the workplace have fallen but long-term sickness remains a headache, according to a survey of manufacturers.

The survey by EEF, which covers members in Kent and Medway, and Unum, a group risk provider, shows that despite overall sickness absence decreasing, 36 per cent of employers report an increase in long-term absence between 2007 and 2008.

Reasons given for long-term absence include "surgery or medical investigation or tests," (60 per cent), back problems (34 per cent) - which is also the second-most cited cause of short-term sickness absence - cancer (26 per cent) and stress (25 per cent).

The number of people citing stress has risen by six per cent over the last 12 months and 14 per cent since 2005. Of those employers seeing an increase, 28 per cent report that "waiting for appointment or diagnosis of illness" delays the return to work and 25 per cent say it is down to "waiting for treatments or operations."

Overall, three million fewer days are being lost in manufacturing to sickness absence than in 2005. It now stands at 6.2 days per employee each year, down from 6.8 days per employee in 2007.

Professor Sayeed Khan, EEF’s chief medical adviser said: "The overall fall in sickness absence figures conceals a worrying trend – an ongoing issue with long-term absence. Employers can do a lot to address this through better management, but employers would benefit from faster access to NHS treatments and secondary care in order to have a chance of significantly improving absence levels."

The NHS and the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) plans to launch a "fit for work" campaign on long-term sickness absence and incapacity.

Professor Michael O’Donnell, chief medical officer at Unum, said: "There is still a need for early intervention in the working population to prevent job loss and long-term absence from work"