The Health at Work Observatory recently published its 2006 ‘Occupational health report’, which analyses the current state of safety and health at work issues in Spain. The report identifies a remarkable decline in both fatal and non-fatal occupational injuries in recent years. It also suggests that Spanish workers cite greater exposure to psychosocial and organisational risk factors.
The Health at Work Observatory (Observatorio de Salud Laboral) is a joint initiative promoted by the Trade Union Institute for Labour, Health and Social Affairs (Instituto Sindical de Trabajo, Ambiente y Salud, Istas), the Mutual Insurance Group (Unión de Mutuas) and the Pompeu Fabra University of Barcelona (Universitat Pompeu Fabra, UPF). The observatory’s mission is to compile, analyse and disseminate information on health and safety at work issues in Spain. In this respect, the observatory has recently published the Occupational health report in Spain 2006 (in Spanish, 4Mb PDF). This comprehensive report analyses the situation regarding occupational health in Spain over the past decade.
Main findings
The main results of the report are detailed in the sections below.
Fatal and non-fatal occupational injuries
The incidence of fatal occupational injuries at the workplace has shown a remarkable decline between 1994 and 2004; however, fatal occupational accidents that occurred on the way to and back from work, as well as when workers were out on assignments, have shown a much slower decline. In particular, workers over 54 years of age and temporary workers are the two groups showing the highest risk of suffering a fatal accident at work. The risk of a fatal occupational accident is particularly concentrated in the northeast autonomous communities of Spain, most notably in Galicia.
On the other hand, the incidence of non-fatal occupational injuries has been rising between 1994 and 2000, due to a higher incidence of both mechanical accidents and work strain. However, since 2000 the incidence of these types of non-fatal occupational accidents has been declining, which is mainly due to the sharp drop in mechanical accidents. According to the report’s data, the groups of workers who are mostly affected by these types of injuries include workers younger than 25 years of age, those on temporary contracts and manual non-qualified workers.
Occupational risk factors and diseases
The lack of awareness in relation to occupational diseases continues in Spain, due to problems in the identification and declaration processes. It is estimated that about 64% of work-related diseases are not registered as such. In terms of type of work-related diseases, musculoskeletal diseases account for 35% of the total, followed by skin diseases amounting to 14%, hearing problems accounting for 13% and breathing diseases corresponding to 10% of all cases.
Between 1999 and 2003, the perceptions of Spanish workers have increased in relation to several occupational risk factors, especially regarding the risks of physical strain injuries and of falling. Moreover, workers increasingly cite exposure to risk factors related to psychosocial and organisational aspects of work nowadays: more than a third of workers claim to be exposed to high psychological demands at work, both in quantitative and qualitative terms.
In terms of risks related to work organisation, 9.5 million Spanish workers declare that they have to work in a rush for more than half of their working time, while seven million workers indicate that they do not have sufficient time to carry out their work. Other relevant occupational risk factors include: falling at the same level and falling objects, to which about five million Spanish workers reported exposure; hand and arm repetitive movements, to which 4.8 million workers are exposed; inhalation of toxic fumes and physical strain, to which 3.5 and three million workers are exposed, respectively.
Changing occupational risk profile
The report emphasises that the majority of new jobs – which were created over the past decade, and which included a high rate of temporary employment – can be characterised as low-quality work. Obviously, this has had an impact on the working conditions of these jobs. Women, migrant workers and young workers are among those groups of workers mostly affected by both low-quality employment standards and the highest incidence of occupational injuries, especially in manual non-qualified jobs.
In recent years, the Spanish average occupational risk profile has been changing due to an increase in employment in the services sector at the expense of a decrease in employment in the agricultural and industrial sectors. This structural trend implies that the decline in occupational injuries, especially in fatal injuries, is likely to continue, while ergonomic and psychosocial risk factors are expected to increase in the coming years. The latter factors are basically related to musculoskeletal diseases and mental disorders.
Finally, the high presence of very small enterprises, with fewer than 10 workers, in the Spanish economy represents a serious challenge in terms of the effective organisation of health and safety prevention measures.
Recommendations
In this context, the report puts forward a number of recommendations:
- the existing Spanish employment policies should be assessed in terms of their impact on workers’ health and safety;
- resources for ensuring an effective application of occupational safety and health policies should be increased;
- there should be a focus on preventive measures with regard to certain groups of workers, including those who are considered as high risk groups, such as women, young workers, migrant workers and workers older than 55 years – in particular, if they work in manual non-qualified jobs or in certain sectors such as construction;
- the need to reduce the incidence of fatal occupational accidents on the way to and back from work, and on assignments, should be a priority;
- occupational disease detection and notification processes need to be improved.
Iñigo Isusi, IKEI