A TRIAL ANALYSIS OF SICK ABSENCE IN INDUSTRY BY THE USE OF FACTOR ANALYSIS

Abstract

It is said that absenteeism is a complicated phenomenon, and that it includes not only health matters but subtle workmen's incentive. The author believes, how-ever, that factors by which absenteeism is influenced are not too complicated.
The author wishes to discuss kernel composition of dynamics of absence is rather simple, and a record of absenteeism might be used as one of the basic information sources concerning workmen's health.
This paper presents the results of factor analysis on sickness absenteeism and adds some information about the significance of absenteeism.
The amount of absence largely depends on age composition of workers, work system, sexual ratio of workers, kinds of sick benefit plan available, etc.
As a matter of fact, if these conditions are equally observed in two factories, a level of absence of the one would likely to show the same of the other.
When those conditions are known in some factory, it would be able to estimate a level of absence in that factory with certain reliability. And when absence level has arisen, or some change in absence record is observed, it could be checked whether or not some unusual conditions have affected employees.
It has already been discussed in terms of the interpretation of individual factors, there were no substantial differences due to sexual difference.
It was found some features seemed to represent the characteristics in the dynamics of absent phenomena in each sex.