Sickness absence due to skin disorders in the coal mining industry

I have examined sickness absence due to skin disorders at five collieries in the North East of England between 1978 and 1984, through sickness certificates kept for each man. A mean of 36.7 days per 100 men per year were lost through skin disease, with 2.3 men per 100 absent each year, of whom 36 per cent had bacterial infection of the skin, 25 per cent dermatitis, and 11 per cent epidermophytosis. However, dermatitis was the cause of the most days lost, with 2.9 days lost per man per year, compared with 1.5 for bacterial infection and 1.7 for epidermophytosis. Dermatitis was responsible for longer spells of absence (median 10 days) and recurrent long absences, which were rarely found for bacterial infection. Foot dermatitis was the most troublesome presentation in this industry, with a median duration of absence of 14 days; 25 per cent of men this diagnosis had recurrent absences of which 21 per cent lasted over 6 weeks. The number of spells of absence due to skin disorders fell, from 3.2 per 100 per year in 1978 to 2.2 per 100 in 1983.