Cutting down unhealthy work

organization conditions Claudia Narocki- ISTAS

Workshop 1

How to improve occupational health and well being in a service economy

Occupational health and workers’ well being – trends:

• will we be going backwards rather than forwards as we move from a manufacturing to a service economy?

• Do we need different tools to deal with workers’ h&S problems in service economy?

Context: uncertainties• Global economy put pressure on working conditions:

• Increased competition; downsizing, externalization, smaller companies, etc.

• Segmentation of workforce (by age, gender, inmigrants): weakening of workplace participation

• Job insecurity• Family-work conflict• Commuting and transportation difficulties• Etc.

– increase in low-wages jobs, high turnover, shift and night work, etc.

“The Six Golden Nuggets” for good

work (Tage S. Kristensen)

+ Influence / control on how to do work, when to rest, with whom, etc)

+ Social support / practical and emotional from colleagues and supervisors

+ Predictability /relevant information about changes and future situations

+ Meaning / aim of work, social pourpose

= Rewards / adequacy of recognition, apreciation, promotion, salary

= Demands / quantitative, emotional and social adequacy

Service economy• Diverse management practices in service economy

– high “Professional”– low “Secondary”

• Increased demands on workers• standarization of demands

– Low influence– Low support– Low meaning– Inadequate rewards.....

• resulting in psychosocial deteriorated work environments

Example: Work Family Conflict : work

organization predictors (Tage S. Kristensen 2006)

•High quantitative demands***•High emotional demands***•High role conflicts***•High workpace ***•Low meaning of work***•High cognitive demands***•Low rewards**•Low quality of leadership**

Work-family conflict in different occupations

Psychosocial risks assessment

• making the invisible visible

• from individual’ problems towards collective (working conditions)

• from perception to action.

For the improvement of work organization....

COPSOQ - a method for psychosocial risk assessment and intervention

– Scientifically valid

– technically operative

– participative.

ISTAS aims:

• To defend the right to work in healthy conditions.• To improve democracy and justice at all workplaces.• To have a say in the hearth of working conditions:

organization of work.– By means of

• Workers’ empowerment, • Participation, • Negotiation