Workplace Risks and Worker
Outcomes from a Comparative
European Perspective
Dorothy Watson, Bertrand Maître, Helen Russell
Geary Research Conference: Health at Work in Ireland
Friday November 20th 9.00 to 1.00
Outline
• Background and research questions
• Data and methods
• Key Results
– Country patterns
– Risk factors in 2010
– Change since 2005
– Impact on health, mental distress, injury
• Summary
• Policy implications
Background
• Healthy working conditions important to job
quality, but also to competitiveness, productivity,
enabling workers to work for longer (European
Commission, 2014, p.2).
• Several different ways of grouping countries
depending on organisation of work
– Varieties of Capitalism (Hall and Soskice, 2001 – co-ordinated
or competitive markets)
– Employment Regimes (Gallie, 2007, 2013 – involvement of
organised labour and employment regulation)
– Bukodi and Robert (2007, employment protection legislation)
Research Questions
• Is Ireland similar enough to other European
countries to learn from their policies?
– How did Irish exposure to workplace risks compare to
that in other European countries in 2010?
• Level and correlates of exposure
– Did this change between 2005 and 2010?
– How do these risks affect worker outcomes such as
health problems, reduced wellbeing, injury?
Change in employment rate,
2005-2010 (%)
Background: Employment Rate &Recession in
Europe
12%
PL
10%
8%
BG
6%
MT
RO
4%
IT
2%
SK
BE
0%
EL
IT
-2%
-4% HU
LV
EE
-6%
ES
-8%
LT
-10%
-12%
IE
DE
AU
LU
SI
FR
CZ
PT
CY
FI
UK
SE
NL
NO
DK
54% 56% 58% 60% 62% 64% 66% 68% 70% 72% 74% 76%
Employment Rate in 2010 (% age 15-64)
Data and Methods
• European Working Conditions Survey
– Sample of about 1,000 workers in each of 34 countries
– 2010 and 2005 (30 countries when comparing both years)
– Detailed data on working conditions
– Analysis includes self-employed and employees
4 kinds of workplace risks
3 worker outcomes (physical health, mental distress, injury)
Types of Workplace Risk
• Physical : exposure to vibration from tools or machinery, loud
noise and extremes of temperature.
• Chemical/biological : smoke, fumes, dust, vapours, skin contact
with chemicals or contact with potentially infectious materials.
• Physically demanding work: lifting or moving people, carrying or
moving heavy loads, painful or tiring positions or constant
repetitive hand or arm movements.
• Psycho-social : unwanted sexual attention, physical violence,
bullying or harassment at work in the last 12 months.
• Workers asked how much of the time their job involves these
exposures (except Psycho-social risk with yes/no in last year)
• Counted as ‘risk’ where 40% of those with this level of exposure
say their health or safety is at risk because of their job.
Summary Workplace Risk Scales 2010
Scales range from
0 (no exposure) to
10 (highest level of exposure)
Overall
Mean
(34
countries)
Ireland
Mean
Physical risk scale (4 items)
1.27
0.92
Chemical/biological risk scale (4 items)
1.06
0.91
Physical demand scale (4 items)
1.33
1.20
Psycho-social risks scale (3 items)
0.22
0.33
Employment Regimes
Adjusted risk exposure: adjustment for
composition of jobs and workforce
Job characteristics
• Employee/self-employed
• Size of workplace
• Public/private sector
• Industrial sector
• Occupation
• Job tenure (length of time)
• Hours per week
Worker characteristics
• Gender
• Age group
• Level of education
• Whether born in country
Adjusted (Net) Mean Exposure to Types of Risk by Country
CZ
PL
SK
LT
LV
EE
HR
BG
ME
SI
RO
CY
AL
HU
TU
XK
MK
PT
IT
ES
MT
EL
UK
IE
NL
DE
AT
BE
LU
FR
Eastern
Psycho-social
Continental Liberal Southern
Phys. demand
CZ
PL
SK
LT
LV
EE
HR
BG
ME
SI
RO
CY
AL
HU
TU
XK
MK
PT
IT
ES
MT
EL
Nordic
UK
IE
Physical
NL
DE
AT
BE
LU
FR
2.6
2.4
2.2
2.0
1.8
1.6
1.4
1.2
1.0
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.0
Continental Liberal Southern
Chem./bio.
DK
NO
SE
FI
2.0
1.8
1.6
1.4
1.2
1.0
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.0
DK
NO
SE
FI
Nordic
Eastern
Risk exposure by Job Characteristics – (34 countries, 2010)
(effects > 0.5 points)
Sector
Agriculture, fishing, forestry
Mining &quarrying
Manufacturing
Elec./Gas. etc.
Construction
Health etc.
Occupation
Skilled Agricultural workers
Craft and trades workers
Semi-skilled workers
Routine (unskilled) occupations
Effect Size: LLL or JJJ > +/- 1 .0
Phys
Chem Demand Psych.
LL
LLL LL
LL LL
LL
LL
LLL
LLL
LL
LL
LL
L
JJ
LL
L
LL LL
LLL LL
LL LLL
LL LLL
LL or JJ > +/- 0.5
Risk exposure Job & Worker Characteristics – (34 countries, 2010)
(effects > 0.5 points)
Phys Chem Demand Psych.
Employment contract (vs. permanent
employees)
Agency Temp.
Level of education (vs. degree)
Lower second level or less
LL
LL
L
LL
Smaller Effects (between 0.2 and 0.49)
J
L
Larger workplaces (>500,P,C,D)
Smaller workplaces (<4, P,C,D)
Part-time work (P)
Long hours (51+, P,D)
Female (P,C)
Male (P,C)
Older workers (age 55+, P,C,D)
Self-Employed (D)
Public Admin, Educ. (D)
Services & Sales Occ. (P,C,D)
How is Ireland Different?
• Adjusted exposure lower than average for physical,
chemical/biological & physically demanding work
• Like other North Western European countries, level
of exposure to psycho-social risk in the top third
• Ireland generally similar to other European countries
in the way in which risk exposure depended on the
type of job held
• A small number of exceptions
– E.g. the gap in exposure between skilled manual and
managerial workers was larger in Ireland for physical risk
and chemical/biological risk
Change between 2005 and 2010
• Physical risk – small fall in exposure overall
– Mainly due to shifts in composition of jobs and workers
– But an increase in exposure in Ireland
• Chemical/biological – general fall in exposure
– Including in Ireland
• Physically demanding work – no change in about half the
countries, including Ireland
– Most of the rest had a fall in exposure
• Psycho-social risk – fall in exposure in most countries
– Including Ireland
– Larger fall in countries with highest exposure in 2005 – FI and NL
Worker Outcomes
• 3 outcomes:
• Poor Health – self-rated health is bad or very bad
• Mental Distress – WHO scale based on 5 items ranging from 0
(no distress) to 10 (high distress)
• Injury – Experienced injury in the last 12 months
• Not specifically linked to employment; cross-sectional data
• 34 countries, 2010
• Models controlling for other individual and job characteristics
– (Same as previous list)
• Results presented as adjusted level of negative outcome at
low (0), medium (5) and high (10) levels of risk exposure.
Poor Health (%) by Exposure to Workplace Risk
(adjusted)
0%
Physical risk
Chemical /biological risk
Physical Demand
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
21%
23%
26%
No significant association
with poor health
19%
29%
41%
Psycho-social risk
21%
34%
50%
Low exposure
Medium exposure
High exposure
Mental Distress (0 to 10 scale) by Exposure to
Workplace Risk (adjusted)
0.0
Physical risk
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
3.5
4.0
4.5
5.0
No significant association
with mental distress
3.4
3.6
3.7
Chemical /biological risk
3.4
3.6
3.9
Physical Demand
3.4
Psycho-social risk
4.0
4.6
Low exposure
Medium exposure
High exposure
Injury in last year (%) by Exposure to Workplace
Risk (adjusted)
0%
Physical risk
Chemical /biological risk
Physical Demand
Psycho-social risk
Low exposure
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
8%
10%
14%
8%
7%
12%
12%
8%
Medium exposure
17%
19%
19%
35%
High exposure
Summary
• Irish exposure to physical risk, chemical/biological risk and
physically demanding work in lower part of country distribution.
• Exposure to psycho-social risks towards the top (like other NW
European countries)
• Ireland is similar to other countries in relationship between
exposure and characteristics of jobs and workers
• Since 2005, adjusting for composition of jobs and workforce, fall in
exposure to chemical/biological and psycho-social risk in Ireland;
rise in exposure to physical risk; no change for physically
demanding work.
• Workplace risks associated with negative outcomes for workers
with particularly strong impact from psycho-social risks.
Limitations and Further Research
• Data does not include people who left work because of illness or
injury
• Risks and outcomes measured at same point in time
– Can be difficult to disentangle effects
– Some effects may take many years to manifest – e.g. Musculo-skeletal
problems, many occupational illnesses
• Impact of workplace organisation on risk exposure and outcomes
for employees –
• Union representation, autonomy, flexibility, supportiveness of
employer/colleagues
• 2015 survey data will be available next year
Policy Implications
• Continue to target prevention strategies towards
high-risk sectors and occupations
• Lower-skilled jobs, manual work
• Agriculture, forestry & fishing; mining & quarrying;
manufacturing
• Psycho-social risks need to be taken seriously
• Strong pattern of negative outcomes associated with
risk exposure, especially exposure to psycho-social risks
• Ireland could learn from effective prevention
strategies in other countries
• Ireland compared to other countries – more similarities
than differences
Comments or questions welcome.
THANK YOU!