The employment relations service has launched a new guide to help businesses promote and manage a healthy workplace and is encouraging bosses to save money and reduce absenteeism by focusing on ensuring employees are healthy at work.

Recent statistics show 236,000 people in the North West suffered from an illness, which they believed was caused or made worse by work.

Available online at http://www.acas.org.uk 'Health, work and wellbeing in the workplace' offers free advice to businesses, HR managers and employees.

The launch of the guide coincides with Mental Health Action Week, which this year addresses anger. Every year three in 10 employees experience mental health problems and it is estimated stress-related sick leave costs the UK industry £370m. every year or about 91 million working days.

Some of the key areas covered in the new guide include:

How to recognise health problems with your employees
What makes a healthy workplace
A health, work and wellbeing checklist
Further sources of expert information on health, work and wellbeing

Susan Claws, of Acas, said: "Creating a healthy workplace has strong benefits for individuals and organisations. This guide will help businesses to ensure that measures are taken to look after its employees, which in turn will boost productivity and effectiveness.

"If businesses can take steps to manage ill-health - physical and mental - they will save money and have happier employees."

Key indicators of a healthy workplace:

Line managers are confident and trained in people skills
Employees feel valued and involved in the organisation
Managers use appropriate health services (e.g. occupational health) to tackle absence and help get people back to work
Managers promote an attendance culture by conducting return to work discussions
Jobs are flexible and well designed
Managers know how to manage common health problems such as mental health and musculoskeletal disorders