RSI Economic Risks

Rising occurrences of RSI are having a significant impact on the UK economy. Employers whose staff develop RSI conditions as a result of work face a range of costs, some obvious, others hidden. These include:

• Loss of efficiency
• Poor morale
• Sickness payments for those too ill to work
• 'Non-absenteeism'. Staff who go to work when they are not fit to be there, but are afraid to be absent. This may seem positive but can lead to even greater problems in the future.
• Ill-health retirement costs for those permanently unable to work
• Injury benefits payments
• Recruitment and retraining costs as skilled and experienced workers need to be replaced. The average cost of replacing employees due to injury, long-term illness or early retirement is £3,000-£4,000 per employee. This is likely to be greater for experienced staff.
• Litigation costs and compensation payments to those successfully pursuing negligence claims against employers
• Increased insurance premiums
• In some cases, it is estimated that the total cost to an employer of an ill-managed RSI condition can be the equivalent of up to 50% of that employee's salary.