Only three health and social care trusts achieved the target of 5.2% of working days lost between 2010 and 2011.

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However, in Central Scotland there were 100 working days lost this year, compared with five in 2011 and one in 2010.

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In detail, the responses revealed there were at least 2, 720 working days lost across Scotland as a result of injuries caused by assaults on police officers in 2010, 2011 and most of 2012.

BBC: Police attacks 'a national shame', say Lib Dems

It is the most common cause of respiratory-related death in the UK - and 56% of all working days lost among men are due to it, costing the economy many billions of pounds each year.

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In 2010, the most recent year for which complete government data are available, the number of working days lost to strikes rose to a record 20.6 million, 10 times as high as in the previous year.

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Nearly 6m working days were lost in French strikes in 1995, against 415, 000 in Britain and 247, 000 in Germany.

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More than 3, 000 working days have been lost over the past three years because of assaults on Scottish police officers and staff, according to new figures.

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The Federation of Small Businesses has criticised head teachers for closing schools too readily, saying lost working days are affecting many companies.

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More than one in 20 teachers were involved in an incident during the year, with 83.5 working days being recorded as lost as a result.

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Between 1992 and 2001, the country lost a mere nine working days a year per 1, 000 workers to strikes, against 22 days in Britain and 48 in the United States.

ECONOMIST: Germany's trade unions: Ever weaker | The