Weaknesses in safety, hygiene and health at work

According to a working conditions survey of 2,500 Portuguese workers, there are significant weaknesses in safety, hygiene and health measures in the workplace. Among the causes are lack of motivation due to low wages, a disregard for protective equipment, and a low level of worker participation in risk prevention procedures.

The study Condições de Trabalho e Humanização (‘A more human approach to working conditions’) was carried out as part of the project Agir para a Igualdade (in Portuguese) (‘Acting for equality’), developed between 2002 and 2004 and financed by the EQUAL European Initiative (in Portuguese). The main objective was to show that any working task can be executed either by men or women, as long as it conforms to ergonomic and production process standards.

The study, comprising 13 organisations, was based on a working conditions survey asking workers about their exposure to risks of work accidents and occupational illnesses. The survey covered 2,467 workers: 1,526 men and 939 women. Most of the men (65%) worked mainly in production and maintenance occupations, while 33% of the women were in administrative occupations.

Concerns over working conditions

The survey results show (see Table below) that ‘low wages’ are the major concern of workers. Combined with ‘excessive pace of work’ (fourth position) and ‘not being recognised by management’ (seventh position), these stress factors can lead to lack of motivation, with negative consequences both for workers and employers.

Source: CGTP, Inquérito às condições de trabalho, 2003. *To reach this order of priorities, the authors considered the action priorities most frequently mentioned in each position. To avoid repeitition (for example, ‘low wages’ is the most frequently mentioned in almost every position), the most mentioned action priority not yet mentioned in the previous positions was considered.

The second main issue of concern among workers is work environment: noise and dust and/or micro fibres inhalation are the most frequently mentioned priorities after low wages.

Another key issue is concern about physical work demands, such as having to maintain poor posture or engage in repetitive movements, often while keeping a high pace of work.

The survey also assessed hygiene and quality levels of some services offered by companies, as perceived by workers. The majority reported ‘reasonable’ or ‘good’ hygiene quality: 68% for toilet facilities, 44% for quality of meals, and 41% on quality of means of transportation.

Accidents and illnesses in the workplace

Occupational illness was another topic covered in the survey. The results show that musculoskeletal disorders are the most common among workers. If one includes hernias and tendonitis, this kind of occupational illness was reported by more than 40% of workers. The survey also revealed that mental illness is the second most frequent cause of sick leave.

Limb injury and cuts were the most common work accidents. The high incidence of limb injury - cited by 31.8% workers - is probably connected to the predominance of musculoskeletal disorders. However, the fact that 31.5% workers reported cut injuries calls into question the legislative compliance of both employees and employers on use of individual protective equipment.

The survey results show low worker participation levels in preventative procedures: 32.4% reported participation in safety, hygiene and health training at work; 34.7% stated that they had participated in training for emergency situations; and 46.4% said they regularly underwent medical examinations.

In addition, the results reveal worker dissatisfaction with employer commitment to risk prevention measures. Only 18.2% of workers viewed company commitment to prevention as ‘high’ or ‘very high’, while 40% categorised it as ‘insufficient’ or ‘non-existent’. At the same time, 72% of workers found that the preventative measures developed by companies are ‘important’ or ‘very important’. This means that 28% of workers find such measures to be ‘not very important’ or even ‘not important at all’, which suggests that there is still a lack of awareness among workers regarding risk prevention in the workplace.

Positive action protocol

The survey identified the most arduous occupations in each organisation. These occupations were analysed in nine companies, resulting in suggestions for improvement. In some cases, these suggestions were included in a positive actions protocol signed between each company and CGTP-IN - Confederação Geral dos Trabalhadores Portugueses (the General Confederation of Portuguese Workers). This trade union confederation will monitor and evaluate implementation of the protocols.

Survey methodology

The survey was developed within the EQUAL ‘Agir para a Igualdade’ project, in partnership with several public and private bodies, under the coordination of CGTP-IN. It was carried out by the Instituto Bento de Jesus Caraça, of CGTP-IN, between October and December 2003. Some 14,990 questionnaires were distributed to workers and collected by hand through trade union representatives. The questionnaire generated 3,612 responses, 2,582 of which were considered valid (18% response rate).

The survey covered 13 companies and organisations from several sectors, namely: the public sector, food and beverage industry, ceramic industry, hotels and restaurants, vehicles and vehicle parts, and the glass industry. It included five medium companies (between 50 and 249 workers) and five large companies (over 250 workers). The public sector organisations included two local authorities (one with over 1,000 workers) and a national public body with over 4,500 workers.

Reference

Paulo, N. and Vogado, A., Condições de Trabalho e Humanização (‘A more human approach to working conditions’), unpublished report of ‘Agir para a Igualdade’ (‘Acting for equality’), EQUAL project, 2004.