Employees In Finland Research Articles

Occupational health services in Finland—do they work well? Opinions of the managers

The employers are obligated by law to organize the occupational health services (OHS) for their employees in Finland. The coverage of OHS is high: 76% of the employed labour force and 85% of the salaried employees and wage-earners are covered by OHS. High coverage tells nothing about satisfaction of employers: are they satisfied with the functions of OHS? The objective of the study was to chart the opinions of the managers related to their experiences of collaboration with OHS. The data of the study were collected by a computer-assisted telephone interview in 2004 by the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health. The survey was based on a stratified random sample from the registers of Statistics Finland. The sample of workplaces represents the entire working population. The manager, the representative of the employees and the occupational health nurse were interviewed at the workplace. The original sample in 2004 consisted of 1000 workplaces, of which 812 managers (response rate 81%), 752 employees (response rate 93%) and 711 OHS personnel (response rate 88%) participated (almost 2300 persons). According to this study, the managers are quite satisfied with the functions of their OHS provider. OHS have to improve the systems for feedback, proposals for improvements and their knowledge of client workplaces' atmosphere.

Regional differences in the prevalence of decreased work ability among young employees in Finland

Objectives. The demographic developments of municipality types differ distinctly. In population-based surveys, the Work Ability Index (WAI) is a useful tool in identifying decreased work ability and high-risk groups. The aim of this study was to examine the prevalence of decreased WAI according to municipal settlements.Study design. Cross-sectional analyses on a birth cohort study base.Methods. Data on work ability, occupation and marital status were collected by postal questionnaire and in a clinical examination. Areas of residence were obtained from the Population Registration Centre and were delimited using the Finnish rural tripartitioning and urban settlements. Altogether, 3725 employees living in northern Finland or in the Helsinki region during 1997–1998, and working in a wide range of occupations, were selected for the analyses. Analyses of the association between low WAI scores (at or below 36 points), major occupational group and place of residence were carried out separately for men and women by means of logistic regression.Results. At an early stage of the working career, decreased work ability is more likely in ruraltype municipalities, especially among women. The regional differences were in close linkage to occupation.Conclusions. In population-based surveys, the WAI questionnaire measures early signs of decreased work ability and it can be utilized in policy-making.

Sex Differences in Health Effects of Family Death or Illness: Are Women More Vulnerable Than Men?

To study sex differences in health after stressful life events in the family. We examined the association between a serious event (death or severe illness of spouse, death or severe illness of other family member, death of close relative) and health among 6,095 male and 21,217 female public sector employees in Finland by repeated measures Poisson regression analysis with the generalized estimating equations method. The longitudinal data comprised self-reports of 3,556 events and their timing in 2000 or 2001, monthly sickness absences between 1997 and 2003, and psychiatric morbidity and suboptimal health 0 to 3 months, 4 to 6 months, or 7 to 12 months after the event. Adjustments were made for age, education, and marital status. Exposure to stressful events was associated with a greater increase in sickness absence and a longer recovery period among women than among men. For the women, death or illness in the family was also associated with self-reported health problems irrespective of the time lag between the event and the measurement of health, whereas for the men, this association was found only in the first months after the event. Our findings suggest that women are more vulnerable than men in the aftermath of a death or illness in their extended family.

Social capital in working life and the health of employees

It is commonly assumed that social capital influences health, but only few studies have examined this hypothesis in the context of the workplace. The present prospective cohort study of 6028 public sector employees in Finland investigated social capital as a workplace characteristic which potentially affects employee health. The two indicators of social capital were trust in the labour market, measured by security of the employment contract, and trust in co-worker support. Self-rated health status and psychological distress were used as indicators of health. The combination of subsidised job contract and low co-worker support (i.e. the lowest category of social capital) was associated with poorer health prospects than the combination of permanent employment and high support (the highest social capital category) in an age-adjusted model, but this association disappeared in logistic regression analysis adjusted by sociodemographic background factors and baseline health. Fixed-term employment predicted better self-rated health and less psychological distress when compared with permanent employment. Co-worker support was most common in permanent and least common in subsidised employees and it was associated with better self-rated health in women. Our findings suggest only partial support for the hypothesis of work-related social capital as a health resource.

Alcohol intake and sickness absence: a curvilinear relation.

Little is known about the U-shaped relation between alcohol intake and health beyond findings related to cardiovascular disease. Medically certified sickness absence is a health indicator in which coronary heart disease is only a minor factor. To investigate the relation between alcohol intake and sickness absence, records regarding medically certified sick leaves from all causes were assessed for 4 years (1997-2000) in a cohort of 1,490 male and 4,952 female municipal employees in Finland. Hierarchical Poisson regression, adjusted for self-reported behavioral and biologic risk factors, psychosocial risk factors, and cardiovascular diseases, was used to estimate the rate ratios and their 95% confidence intervals, relating sickness absence to each level of alcohol consumption. For both men and women, a significant curvilinear trend was found between level of average weekly alcohol consumption and sickness absence. The rates of medically certified sickness absence were 1.2-fold higher (95% confidence interval: 1.1, 1.3) for never, former, and heavy drinkers compared with light drinkers. The U-shaped relation between alcohol intake and health is not likely to be explained by confounding due to psychosocial differences or inclusion of former drinkers in the nondrinkers category. Moderate alcohol consumption also may reduce health problems other than cardiovascular disease.

Self-reported health complaints among general dental practitioners, orthodontists, and office employees

Studies in the Scandinavian countries have shown that orthodontists run an equal or even greater risk of contracting dermatitis compared to other dental personnel. The aim of the study was to find out whether the self-reported occupation-related health problems of general dental practitioners and orthodontists differ from those of office employees in Finland. The subjects were 147 general dentists, 81 orthodontists and 99 office employees (77% women and 23% men). The data were collected using a mailed questionnaire. Within the past year, 42% of the subjects had had occupational health problems, while 51% had experienced symptoms in the previous year or earlier. The complaints of hand dermatoses, musculoskeletal, as well as respiratory symptoms were significantly more common among women than among men. Musculoskeletal complaints were the most common symptoms in all occupational groups, but the odds ratio of having them were significantly higher for dental professionals compared to office employees. The frequency of self-reported hand dermatoses was 42% for dental professionals and 26% for office employees, but the difference did not reach statistical significance. The odds of having hand dermatoses were higher for atopic subjects and for women. Orthodontists did not differ from general practitioners in respect of any of the complaints reported. Materials used in dentistry were mentioned as the cause of symptoms by 49 (21.5%) of the dental professionals. The present results show an increased risk of self-reported musculoskeletal symptoms for the dental professionals. Also, a tendency towards increased occurrence of skin symptoms was noted for the dental professionals compared to office employees of this study.

Job insecurity and well-being: A longitudinal study among male and female employees in finland

Job insecurity has grown dramatically in Finland, as elsewhere. This study examined the relationships between a specific job stressor, i.e. job insecurity, and occupational, overall and family well-being, by utilizing one-year follow-up data collected among male and female employees in Finland. Occupational well-being was assessed via job exhaustion, overall well-being via somatic symptoms, and family well-being via work spillover into parenthood. The study was carried out by means of questionnaires, which were completed twice, in 1995 and in 1996 by employees in four organizations. This article is based on the data of those respondents (n = 219)j who participated in the study in both years. The results indicated gender differences in the predictive relationships between the job insecurity and well-being indicators. For the women job insecurity perceived in 1995 increased job exhaustion and negative work spillover into parenthood in the subsequent year. For the men, in turn, job insecurity did not have negative effects on well-being over a one-year period. Hence, job insecurity seemed to operate as a long-lasting job stressor for the women only. Job insecurity and well-being were both relatively stable among the sexes during the follow-up period. Implications for supporting work and family in the context of increased job insecurity and other changes in working life in Finland and other industrialized countries are discussed.

Occupational Health Services in the Nordic Countries

Occupational health services in the Nordic countries--Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden--started as initiatives of single industrial enterprises. Coverage of employees by voluntary occupational health services ranges from an estimated 23% of employees in Denmark to 93% of employees in Finland. Contents of OHS in the Nordic countries correspond mainly with the ILO Convention (161/85) on OHS. The services are primarily directed to preventing work related problems and achieving a better working environment. Employers are responsible for the total costs of occupational health services in all Nordic countries, but each nation has state reimbursement plans to help cover the costs. However, additional advantages in the subsidy system are needed to stimulate even the smaller enterprises to join the occupational health system.

The Social Class of Finnish Civil Servants before World War II

Those State employees in Finland who had no qualifications and performed manual labour had from 1850 onwards a social status very close to that of industrial workers, the 'traditional' working class. What distinguished State employees was the fact that they enjoyed greater job security. Upper grade white-collar civil servants, on the other hand, had a very different status from that of industrial workers: greater job security and better standard of living. From the end of the 19th century onwards, the social status of State employees and industrial workers converged. The trend accelerated immediately after World War II, which constituted the moment when the position of State employees underwent the greatest structural change. The changes that took place then were even reinforced between the two World Wars. The convergence with industrial workers was most marked in the case of upper grade white-collar State employees. A clear distinction must also be drawn between the ruling class and wage- earners employed by the State Whereas there were differences between State employees and other wage-earners, the social status of State employees as wage-earners meant that they had little in common with the ruling class. We may therefore say that in Finland before World War II, State employees constituted a wage-earning grouping, an intermediate class within capitalist society.

State and development of dental care for employees in Finland.

The aim of this study was to analyze the present state of occupational dental care in Finland. In addition, the viewpoints of employees and employers concerning possibilities for developing occupational dental care were evaluated. Five percent of employers had arranged dental services for their employees. Twenty-four firms either had their own dentist or had made an agreement with a dentist about dental care for their employees. Most of these dentists delivered all kinds of dental treatment to employees, and the costs of treatment were usually paid from the worker's sickness benefit funds. Many such funds also subsidized the costs of dental treatment delivered in other dental offices. In 1978 about 49% of the workers covered by such funds received subsidies for their dental expenses. The most important means of developing adult dental care in Finland was considered to be widening the scope of public dental care. The second means was widening the scope of the national health insurance system. In third place, the employers supported development of private dentistry. Employees, however, preferred to include dental care in agreements made by collective bargaining.