84% of prison officers ‘feel pressure to work when they are sick’

Research among almost 1,700 prison officers across the UK found that 84% had sometimes felt under pressure to report for duty if they were sick.

Staff shortages, pressure from managers and not wanting to let colleagues down were the main reasons for “presenteeism”, as well as feelings of job insecurity, the study by Professor Gail Kinman from the University of Bedfordshire found.

She told the annual conference of the British Psychological Society’s occupational psychology conference in Nottingham that prison officers who lacked support from managers were most likely to work while sick.

Prof Kinman said: “The findings of our research have serious implications for the health of prison officers and for the safe running of prisons.

“The number of prison officers has reduced dramatically and the number of violent prisoner incidents is increasing rapidly.

“Although organisations may see presenteeism as a short-term solution to maintain safe staffing levels, it is considerably more costly long term.

“Prison officers who continued to work while sick were more likely to be emotionally exhausted and have cynical attitudes towards prisoners. They were also more likely to worry about work when off the job.

“The implications of the findings for the safe running of prisons are clear. Improved staffing levels and support from managers should help reduce presenteeism and the subsequent risks to staff and prisoners.”

A prison service spokesman said: “This research is out of date. We have responded to recent pressures by recruiting 2,340 prison officers nationally over the last 12 months – a net increase of 540 officers.

“We are fully committed to supporting the well-being of staff. We run regular well-being events, encouraging peer support and providing an employee assistance programme, which includes access to counselling therapy, health promotion and other support services.”