A rising number of people on sick leave has caused the Work Environment Authority and the Swedish Social Insurance Agency to start a joint campaign with a focus on long-term healthy employees. The basis of the campaign is four keys to healthy companies, based on the results of a research project called Health and the Future. The keys are: leadership and competence development, participation, communication, and the perception of health and absence due to sickness (for example, adapting jobs for reduced working capacity.) The cleaning department in Piteå municipality is an inspirational example in the campaign. The employer there worked on changing the perception of health and absence due to sickness, which resulted in sick leave decreasing from 20% to 5%. The information campaign also includes a new website, www.foretagshalsokollen.se.  There is a test there to find out how your workplace feels.

(LS)