Non-manual Workers Research Articles

How consistently distributed are the socioeconomic differences in severe back morbidity by age and gender? A population based study of hospitalisation among Finnish employees

Aims: To study the socioeconomic distribution of severe back morbidity by age and gender, and to examine to what extent the differences in back morbidity between socioeconomic groups are particularly...

Worker-Job Matches, Job Mobility and Real Wage Cyclicality

Using the British New Earnings Survey Panel Data (NESPD), this paper examines male and female real wage cyclicality over the period 1975–2001. Estimation is undertaken separately for job stayers and job movers. ‘Stayers’ are defined with respect to single jobs within the company, while ‘movers’ refers to individuals changing jobs both within and between companies. Core estimates concern real hourly standard wage rates. Additional features include differentiating between manual and non-manual workers and distinguishing between hourly wage rates and hourly wage earnings.

No consistent risk factor pattern for symptoms related to the sick building syndrome: a prospective population based study

To examine associations between perceived indoor environment at work and the non-specific symptoms that are often referred to as the sick building syndrome (SBS), using cross-sectional and prospective analyses for a large cohort from the general population. The sample comprised 2,164 adults in employment, who completed a postal questionnaire in April 2001. Of these 1,402, who were still working and living in the same place, completed a second questionnaire a year later. The outcome measures were the prevalence of mucous membrane symptoms and general symptoms at baseline and the incidence and persistence of these symptoms at follow-up. Self-reports of the indoor environment from the baseline questionnaire were used as predictors in the analyses. Inconsistent results were found between the cross-sectional and the longitudinal analyses for the associations between perceived indoor environment factors at work and symptoms. Whereas mucous membrane symptoms in the cross-sectional analysis were significantly associated with self-reported high temperature and dry air, the prospective analyses showed that onset of mucous membrane symptoms was associated with the sensation of draught, dry air, and noise. Persistent mucous membrane symptoms were associated only with stuffy air. General symptoms were associated with self-reported stuffy air and dry air in the cross-sectional analysis, while draught was the only predictor of onset of general symptoms. We found no predictors in the indoor environment for the persistence of general symptoms. The symptoms that are often connected with SBS are very common symptoms in the general population among manual workers as well as non-manual workers. Our study gives only limited support to the hypothesis of causal relationships between the indoor environment and these symptoms. We found no evidence of persistent mucous membrane symptoms and general symptoms related to specific factors in the indoor environment.

Comparison of Power Grip and Lateral Pinch Strengths between the Dominant and Non-Dominant Hands for Normal Chinese Male Subjects of Different Occupational Demand

Abstract The purpose of this study was to establish handgrip data for right hand dominant normal Chinese subjects. Sixty-four males were studied for their power grip and lateral pinch strengths. They were categorized into non-manual and manual workers. Standardized procedure and instructions were used for handgrip testing. Results showed that both the non-manual and manual workers demonstrated stronger power grip and lateral pinch strengths in their dominant hands. The 10% rule was applicable only for power grip strength of non- manual workers and lateral pinch strength of manual workers. No significant difference was found between the dominant grip strengths in these two groups of subjects. It was recommended that when assessing the progress and outcome of hand rehabilitation, the occupation and demand level of hand use of the patient must be taken into consideration when using the uninjured hand for comparison.

The Changing World of Work: an Exploration of its Implications for Work-Related Harm

AbstractIn Britain and other developed economies, the world of work has been undergoing profound, and often inter-related, processes of change during the past few decades. Employment has shifted away from manufacturing and other ‘heavier’ industries to the service sector; non-manual work has grown in importance; trade union membership and power have generally declined; small and medium-sized enterprises have become a more important source of employment; and there has been a marked growth of outsourcing as organisations have increasingly sought to contract ‘third parties’ to deliver services on their behalf, provide them with labour, or undertake internal, or formerly internal, work activities. On top of this, in recent years governments have introduced major changes to their regulatory strategies and, more generally, shown a growing interest in the role that ‘soft’ forms of regulation — such as methods of education, persuasion and advice – can play within them.It almost goes without saying that these chan...

Prevalence of Physical Activity among the Working Population and Correlation with Work‐Related Factors: Results from the First German National Health Survey

This paper investigates levels of engagement in physical activity (PA) among the total German working population and for specific subgroups. The first national health survey for the Federal Republic of Germany was conducted from October 1997 to March 1999. The following study is based on a representative net sample of 3,323 employed persons aged 18 to 69. Bivariate methods and multiple logistic regression analyses were used to investigate the relationship between PA and workplace and occupational factors in addition to social and lifestyle-specific correlates. Four out of 10 gainfully employed persons (39.2%) do not engage in sport. Those with physically strenuous jobs and frequent overtime work are significantly less likely to engage in leisure-time PA. Non-manual workers, and younger, unmarried workers are particularly likely to have an active lifestyle. Our study population did not correspond to the popular image of the recreational athlete as an abstinent, "ascetic" individual: The subgroups of non-smokers and teetotalers contained significantly fewer athletes than the corresponding reference groups. The present paper is the first to publish representative data on PA in the working population since German reunification in 1990. The data show that workers with a high risk of morbidity are those least likely to engage in leisure-time PA (manual workers with below-average educational qualifications from lower socioeconomic groups). The significant accumulation of socially depriving living conditions and lifestyle deficits among inactive subjects shows that one-off preventive measures intended to motivate sporting activity are likely to be ineffective in these subgroups of the population. We therefore advocate continuous exercise programs near the workplace involving exercise training suited to the particular occupation, dietary advice, relaxation techniques and occupational medical care.

Rate of return to work and driving following arthroscopic subacromial decompression

The aim of the present paper was to evaluate the return to work and return to driving of a cohort of patients undergoing arthroscopic subacromial decompressions +/- arthroscopic acromioclavicular joint excision. Arthroscopic subacromial decompressions +/- arthroscopic acromioclavicular joint excision were performed in 68 patients between February 2000 and November 2000. All patients had symptoms of subacromial impingement +/- acromioclavicular joint arthrosis for more than 6 months that had not settled with conservative treatment. All had positive local anaesthetic injection tests. All patients were followed up at 3 weeks and 3 months postoperatively. Their Constant-Murley score was measured preoperatively and at 3 weeks and 3 months postoperatively. Patients were asked to record when they had returned to work and when they had returned to driving. Only one non-manual worker did not return to work within 6 weeks. Eighty-five per cent of manual workers returned to manual work within 3 months. Fifty-one patients held driving licences. The average time to return to driving was 28.9 days. Average preoperative Constant-Murley scores were 47.5 (20-67). At 3 weeks postoperation average Constant-Murley scores were 66.8 (40-92), and at 3 months 76.5 (48-99).

Stressful life events are associated with low secretion rates of immunoglobulin A in saliva in the middle aged and elderly

Whether chronic stress experience is related to downregulation of secretory immunoglobulin A (S-IgA) was tested in two substantial cohorts, one middle aged ( N = 640) and another elderly ( N = 582), comprising similar numbers of men ( N = 556) and women ( N = 666) and manual ( N = 606) and non-manual ( N = 602) workers. Participants indicated from a list of major stressful life events, up to six, they had experienced in the past 2 years. They also rated how disruptive and stressful the events were, at the time and now, as well as their perceived seriousness; the products of these impact values and event frequency were adopted as measures of stress load. From unstimulated 2-min saliva samples, saliva volume and S-IgA concentration were measured, and S-IgA secretion rate determined as their product. There was a negative association between the stress load measures and the S-IgA secretion rate, still evident following adjustment for such variables as smoking and saliva volume. The associations also withstood adjustment for sex, cohort, and household occupational status. Although these associations are small in terms of the amount of variance explained, they nonetheless suggest that chronic stress experience either decreases IgA production by the local plasma cells or reduces the efficiency with which S-IgA is transported from the glandular interstitium into saliva. Given the importance of S-IgA in immune defence at mucosal surfaces and the frequency with which infections are initiated at these surfaces, S-IgA downregulation could be a means by which chronic stress increases susceptibility to upper respiratory tract infection.

New Technology and the Non-Manual Labour Process in Britain

Drawing on evidence from five detalled case studies, this paper focuses on the relationship between technical innovation and non-manual skills and work organization. In none of these cases could the introduction of new technologies simply equate technical innovation with deskilling and enhanced managerial control. Indeed, one of the more interesting and important findings of the research was that technological change has been more favourable for technical than for clerical occupational groups.

International Outsourcing and German Manufacturing Wages

This paper investigates the link between international outsourcing and wages utilising the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) and combining it with industry-level information on industries' outsourcing activities. lnstead of following the literature by differentiating between manual and non-manual workers, I also utilise data on educational attainment in order to distinguish between skill categories. While outsourcing proves to be statistically insignificant for manual and non-manual workers' wages, I find evidence that when applying a more accurate skill definition, a one percentage point increase in our outsourcing measure reduces the real wage for low-skilled workers by 1.7 percent while it increases real wages for high-skilled workers by 2.2 percent.

Long-term Illness and Wages

Long-term illness (LTI) is a more prevalent workplace risk than fatal accidents but there is virtually no evidence for compensating differentials for a broad measure of LTI. In 1990 almost 3.4 percent of the U.K. adult population suffered from a LTI caused solely by their working conditions. This paper provides the first estimates of compensating differentials for a broad measure of work-related LTI. Using data on self-reported illnesses we find significant CDs for male manual workers but none for male nonmanual workers. These results are robust to the addition of variables for the risk of accidental at-work deaths.

Return-to-Work Interval and Surgery for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. Results of a Prospective Series of 233 Patients

To evaluate the connection between the type of patient insurance and the time taken to return to work after carpal tunnel surgery. Two hundred and thirty-three patients in full-time work were operated on for carpal tunnel syndrome between 1 January and 30 June 1998. They were divided into three groups: independent workers (n=87), wage earners in the private sector (n=90) and civil servants (n=56). Four categories were defined: manual workers, non-manual workers, patients with social security insurance and patients with workers compensation. The average return-to-work interval after surgery for each of the groups was evaluated and compared group by group. For independent workers the average time off work is 17 days, for those in the private sector it is 35 days, and for civil servants it is 56 days. Patients with social security insurance were off work for 32 days and those with workers compensation for 49 days. The comparison shows significant differences with regard to social security insurance: the return-to-work interval in civil servants is larger than for private sector workers, and this is higher than in independent workers. The difference between patients with workers compensation and those with social security insurance is 17 days and significant. There is a significant difference between manual and non-manual workers in independent and private sector workers. There is no significant difference between the sub-groups in the civil servants. These cross references enable us to work out the influence that social security status has on the return-to-work time following surgery.

A comparison of socioeconomic differences in physical functioning and perceived health among male and female employees in Britain, Finland and Japan

We compared the pattern of socioeconomic inequalities in physical functioning and perceived health among male and female employees in Britain, Finland and Japan. Participants were male and female public sector employees in Britain, Finland and Japan, who were economically active and 40–60 year-olds at the time of data collection. We measured perceived health and physical functioning (SF-36 physical component summary) with standardized health questionnaires. The results obtained here reconfirm the similarity of the patterns of ill-health of those with lower socioeconomic status among non-manual men and women in Britain and Finland. These data also provide good evidence for a socioeconomic gradient in ill-health among Japanese non-manual men, although this gradient was less systematic. For Japanese men poorer health of manual workers as compared to non-manual workers was well demonstrated. However, among Japanese women socioeconomic differences in health were small and inconsistent. In conclusion, Britain, Finland and Japan—representing ‘liberal’, ‘Nordic’ and ‘conservative’ welfare state regimes—produce broadly similar patterns of socioeconomic differences in health among men. However, different patterns of labour force participation and welfare provision in different welfare regimes may bring about different patterns of socioeconomic differences in health for working women. This is exemplified by the lack of health inequalities among employed Japanese women.

Paternal exposure to agricultural pesticides and cause specific fetal death

Aims: To study the association between fetal death and paternal agricultural occupation in areas and time periods with different levels of use of agricultural pesticides. Methods: A total of 1...

Working on the Train? The Role of Technical Progress and Trade in Explaining Wage Differentials in Italian Firms

This paper presents firm-level evidence on the dynamics of the relative demand for non-manufacturing workers in Italian manufacturing during the 1990s. The analysis provides a number of interesting results. First, the rise within firms in the share of non-manual workers in both employment and hours worked (within-firm skill upgrading) is the main determinant of the increase in the relative demand for skilled workers. By contrast, demand changes associated to trade have mitigated such a rise by shifting employment away from skill-intensive firms. Second, while the relative number of hours worked by skilled workers within firms has risen, the hourly wage premium has fallen. Third, within-firm skill upgrading is strongly and significantly related to investment in computers and R&D. Fourth, we find that technical progress has raised the relative productivity of skilled workers (the skill-bias of technical progress is positive). Finally we show that the standard approach that measures annual, rather than hourly relative wages, produces a downward bias in the estimate of the skill-bias of technical progress.

Influence of fracture pattern on consolidation after metacarpal plate fixation.

Consolidation problems may complicate plate fixation of metacarpal fractures. It was our clinical impression that the fracture's morphology and the patient's occupation may influence this complication. Retrospective study on 104 extra-articular metacarpal fractures. Time to union, presence of consolidation problems and time to return to work were correlated with fracture pattern (transverse/non-transverse), presence of soft tissue injury, type of patients and type of plate. Twelve patients (15%) experienced consolidations problems: 8 patients within the transverse fracture pattern group (29.6%) and 4 patients (7.4%) within the non-transverse fracture group. The difference was significant (P = 0.01). Manual workers were found to be more likely than non-manual workers to have consolidation problems (p < 0.01) in both groups of fractures. There was no correlation between consolidation problems and hand dominance (P = 0.76), soft tissue injury (P = 0.24) or type of plate (P = 0.34). We found a significant correlation between fracture patterns, patients' profession and consolidation problems. Despite technical advances in plate design, management of such fractures by plating remains fraught with complications, demands meticulous handling of soft tissue and does not allow for technical error.

The Dynamics and Inequality of Italian Men’s Earnings

Abstract This paper provides a longitudinal perspective on changes in Italian men’s earnings inequality since the late 1970s by decomposing the earnings autocovariance structure into its long-term and transitory parts. Cross-sectional earnings differentials grew over the period and the longitudinal analysis shows that such growth was determined by the long-term earnings component. Using parameter estimates to analyze low-pay probabilities shows that low-pay persistence and the probability of repeated low-pay episodes grew for all birth cohorts during the early 1990s. Moreover, long-term heterogeneity is found to characterize the earnings distribution of nonmanual workers, accounting for a large part of overall heterogeneity.

Return to work after cardiologic rehabilitation

The objectives of the present study were to determine prospectively return to work and its predictors in patients after cardiac rehabilitation. Patients were enrolled at admission to inpatient cardiac rehabilitation centres (n = 18). Primary indications for admission were myocardial infarction, coronary artery bypass grafting or percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty. We included 2441 consecutive patients (1907 men, mean age: 60 +/- 10 years; 534 women, mean age: 65 +/- 10 years). A total of 43% of all patients had been actively employed before the event. Of these patients, 65% had returned to work six months and 67% 12 months after cardiac rehabilitation. Successful return to work after 12 months was significantly predicted by younger age, non-manual work, self-employment, a higher physical and mental quality of life, and a better exercise ECG result. Return to work is predicted by sociodemographic factors, quality of life, and the exercise ECG at the rehabilitation centre. The determination of early predictors for return to work may aid to identify patients particularly at risk for failure to return to work.

Wage premia and skill upgrading in Italy: why didn't the hound bark?

This paper presents firm-level evidence on the change of the employment share and the wage premium of non-manual workers in Italian manufacturing during the nineties. We find that the relative stability of the aggregate wage premium and employment share hides offsetting disaggregate forces: technical progress raises the relative demand for skilled labor within firms, whereas demand changes associated with trade reduce the relative demand for skills. Moreover, it is within the class of non-manual workers that most of the action takes place: the wage premium and employment share of executives rise substantially, while those of clerks fall in a similar proportion. Finally, we find that the export status of firms plays a key role in explaining labor market dynamics: exporters account for most of both demand-related and technology-related shifts. Overall, our results for Italy question the conventional view that the labor market is “rigid” due to labor market institutions.

Effects of socioeconomic indicators on coronary risk factors, self-rated health and psychological well-being among urban Japanese civil servants

In Japan, the effects of socioeconomic indicators on coronary risk factors and subjective well-being in an urban population have not been compared. The subjects of this study were 1361 civil servants (968 men and 393 women, aged 35–64 years) working in an urban area of Japan. Screening examinations were conducted from April 1997 to March 1998, and a questionnaire survey was conducted in February 1998. The effects of two socioeconomic indicators, education level (junior high school, high school and university education) and employment grade (manual, low-level nonmanual and high-level nonmanual work), on behavioral and biological coronary risk factors, self-rated health and affect balance were investigated using multivariate logistic regression analyses. Smoking was found to be inversely associated with level of education; compared to university graduates, the odds ratios for subjects who had only graduated from high school and those for subjects who had only graduated from junior high school were 1.96 and 2.07 in men and 3.44 and 5.48 in women, respectively. As for alcohol drinking and physical inactivity, relationships were inconsistent in terms of direction by the two indicators. Among biological risk factors, diabetes was inversely associated with education level in men. Self-rated health, however, was inversely associated with employment grade both in men and women, and affect balance was inversely associated with employment grade in men. In summary, different effects of two socioeconomic indicators, education and employment grade, were seen in some coronary risk factors and subjective well-being in an urban Japanese population. Our findings should contribute to the elucidation of mechanisms of the socioeconomic gradients of risk factors and mortality from coronary heart disease in Japan.