Objectives Our work aims to:

• assess occupational disability for medical reasons in hospitals across the entire work stoppages substantiated by a medical certificate,- to identify the reasons

• and describe the causes and medical certificates responsible for this phenomenon.

Method It is a descriptive epidemiological study on the whole of the medical absences reported by employees between January 1, 2012 and December 31, 2012 in two hospitals: CHU and EHS Obstetrics and Gynaecology of Sidi-Bel-Abbes.

Support for the survey is a questionnaire completed by the doctor, it collects informations about: individual characteristics (gender, age …), socio-professional characteristics (marital status, professional category, function, service …), and information on the declared absence (place of occurrence, the date of delivery to the employer, the type of certificate, the acute or chronic nature of the disease, the nature of the injuries …)

- Medical causes listed according to the International Classification of Diseases (CIM 10).

Results The study population represents a workforce of 2,884 employees and includes the entire staff of the CHU and EHS Obstetrics and Gynaecology of Sidi-Bel-Abbes.

We recorded 331 medical certificates off work reported by our study population. However we objectified about 3/4 of the certificates are initial certificates and 72% that are issued by the public sector.

The rate of medical absenteeism in the hospital surroundings is estimated at 7.68% with a predominance of medical absences related to illness (98%) against only 2% for those related to accidents with a male predominance (5%) containing 1% for females.

Conclusion Our results can be used in a preventive perspective to improve the professional environment.