Sickness absence The sickness absence figure for NS in 2016 was 5.1%. That is higher than in 2015 (4.9%). Sickness absence among chief guards can be considered systematically high. As it is not clear what is causing this, we intend investigating the job workload for chief guards in 2017. In 2016, NS worked on increasing the employability of staff, including with plans for a structured approach to tackling absenteeism.Tender for trauma aidNS issued a tender in 2016 for follow-up care after severe shocking incidents. The tender was awarded to HSK. By making use of the services of HSK, NS aims to give its employees maximum support in dealing with (severe) shocking events.