What Do Europeans Think About Their Working Conditions?

Oct. 9, 2009 - PRLog -- According to the findings, there is widespread concern among European citizens that the current economic crisis could adversely affect health and safety at work, putting at risk the improvements that they report having seen over the last five years. Many Europeans also feel well informed about occupational safety and health and consider it an important factor when choosing a new job.

The economic downturn puts pressure on European workers
According to the opinion poll, 6 out of 10 Europeans expect the global economic downturn to deteriorate working conditions, especially regarding health and safety. And a significant majority of respondents (75%) across Member States believe that ill health is caused at least to some extent by the job that people have.

Jukka Takala, Director of EU-OSHA, recognises the challenges that businesses face today and reminds them of investing in their workers health: “The financial crisis may lead organisations to ignore or minimise the importance of workplace safety and health. And even there is a risk that companies will consider cutting back on their investment in occupational safety and health (OSH). The challenge to us, as the Agency, is to convince them that there is no point in making short-term gains at the cost of long-term problems. All of our work shows that the more healthy workplaces are, the more productive they also tend to be”.

Salary and job security most important
As unemployment increases, people may be more concerned with their immediate job security than with the safety and health of their working conditions. When asked about the deciding factors for choosing a new job, European Union citizens believe that job security and salary level are more important than safe and healthy working conditions, which ranked third in the poll before working hours.

Better information – improved health and safety conditions
The encouraging news is that people within many of the Member States (particularly EU-15) regard themselves as well informed about risks in the workplace and 57% of respondents believe that health and safety at work has improved over the last five years.

Gender differences
The opinion poll also reflects gender variations in attitudes towards OSH. Male participants regarded salary (61%) and job security (55%) as the most important factor when taking a new job, in comparison to lower percentages among female respondents (53% and 51%, respectively). On the contrary, women seem to give more importance to working hours (26%) than men (19%).

In addition, more male respondents believe that health and safety conditions have improved over recent years (62%) than their female counterparts (only 52%) and men feel better informed on safety and health matters (71%) than women (61%).

Jukka Takala said: “In fact, safety and health risks of women at work tend to be underestimated and neglected. The incompatibility of working time with family life, the ‘double shift’ which still affects women disproportionately and the fact that there is more emphasis on accidents at work than on occupational health (which leads to attention being turned towards male-dominated sectors and occupations) are some of the new challenges which must be faced. It is essential to take a ‘gender sensitive’ approach to safety and health at work, an issue which EU-OSHA will continue in its contribution to ensure greater understanding within businesses across the European Union”.

EU-OSHA has played an essential role in promoting safety and health at work within Europe for more than a decade and will continue to contribute in its pro-active approach to the improvement of working conditions. The Agency’s Healthy Workplaces campaign, including the European Week for Safety and Health at Work from 19 to 23 October, is the world’s biggest information campaign on OSH, involving thousands of organisations and workers across Europe.

The published survey also includes country specific data, and in the case of Malta, certain positive indications emerge, especially the high level of awareness amongst respondents about the benefits of occupational health and safety - Malta scored second amongst the Member States with regards to the rating given to occupational health considerations when making a career decision. A majority of Maltese respondents also claim that the levels of occupational health and safety have improved over the last five years (72% of respondents, placing Malta fourth amongst the Member States), while only 17% seem to think that such levels have deteriorated). 41% of Maltese respondents expect OHS levels to deteriorate to any appreciable degree because of the current economic scenario (compared to a European average of 61%). 59% of Maltese respondents claim to be well-informed about occupational health and safety risks (compared to a European average of 66%).

Dr. Mark Gauci, Chief Executive Officer of OHSA-Malta said “Whereas one should always exert caution when trying to interpret opinion polls, the results obtained usually provide a good indication of the prevailing situation. OHSA-Malta is indeed satisfied that the results of its hard work have started to show, and that there is now more awareness about the benefits of having high levels of OHS and more information available than there was five years ago (a time which roughly coincides with the establishment of OHSA-Malta). This is also borne out by the fact that contrary to what many public statements seem to imply, the vast majority of people in Malta believe that the levels of OHS have improved substantially over the past five years.”

For more information on the results of the Pan-European opinion poll on occupational safety and health, please visit our website at http://osha.europa.eu/mt/statistics/eu-poll/index_html-mt.

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