Impact of demography & employment patterns on occupational health mr devnath roopnarine
1. How changes in demography and employment
patterns impact on occupational ill health;
How such health challenges might be addressed
2. Occupational HealthOccupational Health
• The branch of medicine concerned with health
problems caused by or manifest by work
• The norm is to concentrate on the physical,
chemical and biological hazards
• Ergonomic (Psychosocial) not as easily
discernible (Walker v Northumberland CC
[1995] IRLR 35
3. What the research has shownWhat the research has shown
• Ill health being caused by
- Changes in demography ; older workforce,
migrant workers, more women in workforce
- Changes in employment patterns – what are
these?
4. Triggering Factors includeTriggering Factors include
• changes in technology;
• customer tastes;
• competitors’ activities;
• Materials;
• legislation and
• changing economic factors
5. SMEsSMEs
• Growth in no. of S & MEs
- S & H viewed as a cost & not a benefit
- more fragile financially
- Lack of knowledge & information
- absence of management structures
- difficult for regulatory control
6. DownsisingDownsising
• operating in a fragmented manner
• management duties are delegated down
• Uncertainty of responsibilities
• No safety & health specialist
• Competition for resources resulting in
employees health being compromised.
7. Contractors / OutsourcingContractors / Outsourcing
• larger organisations issuing contracts for tasks
such as maintenance and other core functions
• this can create uncertainty about issues relating
to responsibility for undertaking risk
assessment, training, and provision of
information to workers etc.
8. The service sectorThe service sector
• A considerable number of workers are now
employed in this sector
• more staff work away from a fixed workplace
• No safety culture and such workers are
deprived of useful health and safety
information from enforcing authorities
• High incidence of violence & assaults
9. Precarious employmentPrecarious employment
• part time, fixed contract and temporary
- Doing high risk jobs off loaded by larger
organisations;
- Non unionised & likely to be less experienced,
perform unfamiliar tasks and less familiar with
safety and health rules
- self-employed contractors and home based
workers fall outside the regulatory protection
10. Flexible working timeFlexible working time
• Flexible working patterns.
• Working at nights or on shift systems
• No S&H training
11. Information & communicationInformation & communication
technologytechnology
• computer networks, electronic data
interchange and the internet has given rise to a
new set of electronic business activities
• workers operating computers and related
equipment from home and call centers
• ergonomic needs of these workers not
addressed
12. Older WorkforceOlder Workforce
• Overrepresentation of the elderly and under
representation of the young.
• Adapt to new organisational practices and new
technologies
• Work related distress and cardio vascular
disease in middle-aged males
13. Women in the workforceWomen in the workforce
• Increasing female employees
• More in caring services – stress & violence
• Tools & equipment designed for males
• Sexual harassment & discrimination resulting
in stress related disorders
• musculoskeletal problems more prevalent and
more severe among women
14. Migrant workersMigrant workers
• Considerable number in T&T at present
• Cultural background and language
• Understanding of safety & health instruction –
stress related problems
• the low paid, insecure and lower niche jobs
with poor occupational health practices
16. The way forwardThe way forward
• Collaborative effort by Government &
Business
- At National Level
• Updating of legislation and standards.
• Strengthening the role of the regulatory
Agency.
• Tripartite collaboration between government,
employers and trade unions
17. • Education, training and information for
employers and workers.
• Provision of occupational health services.
• Undertaking of research.
• Development of the registration system for
occupational diseases and
• Tax break for Occ. Health initiatives
18. Action by EnterpriseAction by Enterprise
• The adoption of a safety and health management
system and address the following;
- risk assessment, training and health surveillance;
- management of change when introducing new forms
of working and new technology
- management of contractors
• training needs of part-time workers, women, older
workers and migrants.
The information provided in this paper was obtained from research done on people who had worked in organisations which had gone through these changes in Europe and North America. I shall not be mentioning the names of the researchers but a full list of the References will be cited in the full version of this paper that will be published in due course The findings of the research are very applicable to T&T as these changes in the workplace have already occurred and continue to occur locally. Students pursuing studies in OS&H may wish to consider doing local research in the various aspects of this topic for their thesis. I wish to draw your attention to the two underlined words in the topic. Viz . IMPACT – The changes do not cause Occupational ill health but rather generate the conditions to cause it. And secondly OCCUPATIONAL ILL HEALTH - the generated conditions may not always result in disease but may cause ill health. With this in mind let’s roll.
Very often the tendency is to concentrate on the physical, chemical and biological hazards and little attention is directed to the psychosocial hazards existing in the workplace which can result in undue stress to employees. The psychosocial hazards are not as easily discernible as the others and in this regard, it is worthy to refer you to the case law Walker v Northumberland CC [1995} IRLR 35 in which Walker, a social services officer successfully sued his employer after suffering a second nervous breakdown arising from an excessive workload. This case established the precedent that an employer can be held liable for mental injury to an employee caused by work-related stress. Employers/HR officers in our midst take note
What are the demographic changes? Changes in employment patterns: - increase in the number of small businesses; - a growth in self-employment; - new management methods; - the increase use of contractors and temporary staff and changes in working hours (shift work) and increased ability to work away from a fixed workplace or from home - What’s triggering these changes?
The triggering factors causing these changes are as per the list on the slide. Information highway (ICT) has had the greatest effect in the list – Bill gates - Business at the speed of thought. WHO calls it the second industrial revolution Work from home, vehicles, toilets etc. Lets now look firstly at the effects some of the changing workplace patterns and deal with the demographic changes later.
Growth in SMEs – world wide phenomenon; CSO stats as at 2007- there were 29,497 Ind. Est. in T&T – 17, 758 had less than 25 employees and of which 8708 were sole traders. In 1996 the UK had 3.7 million SMEs among which 2.5 million were sole traders and the other 1.2 million being small firms. occupational health investments less attractive because the benefits of prevention are not obvious in the short term Lack of resources, knowledge and information lead to risk acceptance no one responsible for safety & health may never get inspected hence deprived of safety & health information
Many large companies are now operating in a fragmented manner. Whereas the traditional company had a strong centralised management structure including the employment of safety & health specialists, the downsised firm no longer employs such personnel. Additionally, safety and health responsibilities may compete with other management functions with the resultant effect of employees health being compromised. Research in Finland found that those firms which had undergone major downsising were associated with increased sickness absence and the cardiovascular mortality rate was twice higher than firms which had no downsising. The British Whitehall II study during the period of the civil service privitisation also indicated that there were significant increases in long-standing illnesses amongst the males anticipating job change after the downsising process.
Another major trend has been for larger organisations to issue contracts for tasks such as maintenance and other core functions (prevalent in the Energy Sector in T&T. where large numbers of contractors work together or for each other, this can create uncertainty about issues relating to responsibility for undertaking risk assessment, training, and provision of information to workers etc.
A considerable number of workers are now employed in the service sector. Many of these jobs involve contact with members of the public that can lead to stress and violence at work. Activities in health care and social services have increased and more staff work away from a fixed workplace. Workers in such situation usually do not have a safety culture and are deprived of the provision of useful health and safety information from enforcing authorities. A study of service sector workers during the period 1997- 1999 in West Virginia, USA showed 2122 injuries associated with workplace violence. Women sustained a higher incidence than men and healthcare workers and public safety workers were among those that accounted for 75% of the assaults
Workers in precarious jobs are subject to high demands and relatively low rewards. They have limited control over the job they do, less career prospects, less access to training and perform less skilled tasks. Apart from being subjected to these stress related conditions they are also the people who do the dirtiest, the most dangerous, and the most monotonous jobs under relatively poor ergonomic conditions. These workers are not well protected as permanent employees since they fall outside the jurisdiction of committees or unions that monitor working conditions. Stress may occur if part-time workers feel isolated, or not properly involved in the organisation or if they feel they do not have the same career development opportunities as permanent employees. (Some of the psychosocial hazards mentioned before.) some part-time jobs involve unskilled work with poor occupational health standards and these workers are usually deprived of safety and health training which is usually given during normal working hours
Flexible working patterns to provide services or use plant during more hours of the day (prevalent in T&T in the energy sector & social services) The research has shown an association between night work and shift system with peptic ulcer disease, coronary heart disease and compromised pregnancy outcome. Also some workers on flexi working time are deprived of S&H training which is usually given during normal working hours
The constant use of the computer can result in musculoskeletal problems in the shoulder-neck and hand-arm systems, information overload and psychological stress of learning new skills. Many home workers experience the stress of the double workday with the demands of their domestic labour and wage labour leading to occupational health problems. Research in both the UK and Canada revealed high levels of isolation, depression, boredom, feeling of entrapment and consequent loss of self esteem among home workers.(psychosocial hazards) Further some of these workers have poor workstations and hence their ergonomic needs are not addressed
The World Health Organisation (1994) has indicated that after the year 2000 more rapid ageing of the workforce will take place and in some industrialised countries this ageing of the workforce and the simultaneous negative or zero growth of the population will lead to overrepresentation of the elderly and under representation of the young. (Large number of retired persons now working on contract in both the private and public sector in T&T). -Increased stress levels to adapt to new organisational practices and new technologies A study on work related distress and cardio vascular disease in middle-aged males in Germany indicated that workers who exhibit high effort in combination with low reward and especially with low job security or promotion prospects suffer 3 to 4 fold increased risk of cardio vascular disease and they exhibit higher blood pressure, blood lipids and fibrinogen.
A major trend in the workplace is the increasing percentage of women employees. Many women work in the caring services where there are high risks of stress and violence. More women than men work in jobs where the demands are high and there is little individual control over the work. The workplace is still often based on the needs of the male worker and has not been adapted to the needs of female workers. For example, many tools and equipment have been designed for male rather than female workers and the traditional working hours may be difficult for women with family responsibilities. These specific working conditions together with the fact that women are more frequently subjects of sexual harassment and discrimination are contributory factors to the higher prevalence of stress- related disorders in women. Further, research has shown that musculoskeletal problems more prevalent and more severe among women
This movement of people has implications for occupational health especially as it relates to cultural backgrounds and languages. Those workers who do not have a good knowledge of the language of the country they are entering can experience language problems regarding occupational safety and health instruction and training. Further they may suffer stress- related symptoms if the work organisation does not adapt to accommodate their respective culture. Migrant workers fill the low paid, insecure and lower niche jobs where occupational health practices are not of the highest standard. Considerable number in T&T at present. Our inspectors have already had to visit a worksite with an interpreter to discuss poor welfare conditions were being provided for employees- none of whom could speak English. The language problem can also arise among people who speak English as this story I heard about a worker from one of our Caricom member state. You guess which one.
![Occupational HealthOccupational Health
• The branch of medicine concerned with health
problems caused by or manifest by work
• The norm is to concentrate on the physical,
chemical and biological hazards
• Ergonomic (Psychosocial) not as easily
discernible (Walker v Northumberland CC
[1995] IRLR 35](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)