Poor Working Conditions Research Articles

Systematic Review of Factors Influencing Students’ Performance in Educational Buildings: Focus on LCA, IoT, and BIM

In the evolving field of civil engineering studies, a significant transition is evident from fundamental to new-generation research approaches. This paper presents a systematic literature review aimed at analyzing these shifts, focusing specifically on the performance of students in educational buildings thought the integration of modern technologies such as the Internet of Things, life cycle assessments, and building information modeling. Covering the literature from the late twentieth century to the early twenty-first century, the review emphasizes advancements in sustainable infrastructure, eco-friendly designs, digitalization, and advanced modeling. A comparative analysis reveals that while the fundamental articles are primarily focused on indoor air quality parameters, the new-generation articles prioritize technological integration to address broader environmental concerns and for improved building performance. Challenges in the education sector, such as insufficient energy use, high maintenance costs, and poor working conditions, are also discussed, showcasing their impact on student learning outcomes. The methodology employed for this review included a comprehensive search in databases such as Scopus and Web of Science, using keywords such as “school buildings”, “IoT”, “BIM”, and “LCA”, ensuring a robust and diverse collection of academic articles. The findings show that new trends supplement existing topics, suggesting an integration rather than a replacement of traditional practices. Consequently, future research efforts will need to include a broader range of information to fully account for the evolving landscape in this field.

Exceptions to the Abolition of Chinese Indenture: Chinese workers on rubber estates in Interwar British Malaya

ABSTRACT In a 1931 report investigating the status of labourers in British colonies, the Colonial Office declared that the system of indenture had been abolished across Malaya. This claim belied the realities of labour practices on the ground. On plantations, mines and in colonial homes, Chinese workers continued to labour under formal indenture and to endure indenture-like practices well into 1930s. This article explores the slow decline of Chinese indenture in Malaya, concentrating on the rubber industry in the Unfederated Malay State of Kelantan during the interwar years. The Chinese migrant workers that were brought to Kelantan in that era signed contracts for one year with the terms of the contract enforced by colonial administrators. These workers endured poor working conditions and high death rates. Those that sought to escape faced criminal conviction and punishments including fines and incarnation. By showing the continuation of indenture in Kelantan, this article challenges the assumption made by historians that Chinese indenture had ended globally by the early 1920s. It also develops new understandings of the fragmentary and complex process of abolition.

Factors Contributing to the Successful Promotion of Persons with Disabilities at Provincial Departments in South Africa

Persons with disability constitute about 15% of the world population, yet the official unemployment rate is at least twice that of persons without disabilities. The ILO reported that persons with disabilities are mostly underemployed in low-wage jobs with a lack of promotions and poor working conditions than their counterparts without disabilities in the workplace. Many studies conducted focus on the factors affecting the employment of persons with disabilities in general and very few on their successful promotion to higher positions. This paper aims to identify the factors contributing to the successful promotion of persons with disabilities at the selected Limpopo Provincial Department in South Africa. The study is exploratory and adopts a qualitative approach. It focuses on the Department of Social Development (DSD) and the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) where eighteen respondents were purposively sampled, nine persons with different disabilities and nine human resource officials. Semi-structured interviews were conducted using an interview guide to allow respondents to disclose their thoughts and feelings about promotional experiences. Some interviews were conducted face-to-face and virtually due to time and financial constraints. Data was collected using secondary information such as government policies, reports, prescripts, and publications. Thematic analysis was used, and themes were induced from the interview data. Data was presented in the form of tables and percentages. The study recommends that provincial departments promote a culture of inclusion where persons with disabilities feel valued, respected, and supported in various ways.

Work-related musculoskeletal disorders, fatigue and stress among gas station workers in China: a cross-sectional study

IntroductionWork-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) are disorders of the musculoskeletal system that have the highest prevalence among workers worldwide. Workers in gas stations usually work in poor ergonomic working conditions, including...

Work-related stressors and psychological distress predict career change ideation among Lithuanian healthcare workers.

The study aimed to assess the mental health and well-being of Lithuanian healthcare workers by gathering demographic information, identifying common stressors affecting the work environment, evaluating mental health, and exploring directions for psychosocial care. Additionally, the research explored the prevalence of considering a career change among respondents. The study included 1618 responders who completed an online survey in December 2021 - January 2022. Participants included in this study: physicians, nurses, residents and other healthcare workers. It evaluated their demographics, most common stressors affecting their work environment and mental health on the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale - 21 (DASS-21) scale. Lastly, all responders asked if they had considered changing their occupation to a non-medical job. Univariate analysis was performed using χ2 and Student's t test, and binary logistic regression evaluated career change predictors. Career change was considered by 1081 (66.8%) responders. The main career change predictors were poor working conditions (OR 1.91, p < 0.001), direct contact with patients (OR 1.84, p < 0.001), lack of career perspectives (OR 1.95, p < 0.001), mobbing (OR 1.67, p = 0.001) and exhaustion (OR 1.51, p = 0.005). After evaluating DASS-21 scores, it was found that 23% of respondents had severe and extremely severe depression symptoms, 27.4% severe and extremely severe anxiety, and 21.4% had severe and extremely severe stress levels. Lithuanian healthcare workers are in high distress and have poor mental health. They are in need psychosocial assistance to avoid burnout and staff loss. Int J Occup Med Environ Health. 2024;37(3):287-99.

The role of job strain in the relationship between depression and long-term sickness absence: a register-based cohort study

PurposeThough individuals with depression and those with poor working conditions are more likely to be on long-term sickness absence (LTSA), less is known about how working conditions may modify the associations between depression status and LTSA. This study aims to examine the association between depression and LTSA among Swedish workers with different levels of job strain and its individual components (job demands and job control).MethodsAll Swedish workers 30 − 60 years old (N = 3,065,258) were studied in 2005. At baseline (2005–2010), workers were categorized as: without depression, being prescribed antidepressants, and being in inpatient/outpatient care. Job strain was measured using a Swedish Job Exposure Matrix, and data on LTSA were obtained from 2011 to 2021. The association between depression and LTSA was assessed using Cox proportional-hazards regression stratified by categories of job strain.ResultsCompared to workers without depression, workers with depression had higher risk of LTSA across all job strain levels. Depression was associated with the highest hazards of LTSA in active jobs, but a similar population attributable fraction (PAF) was found across categories of job strain, indicating similarities between the different categories.ConclusionThere was evidence of a moderating effect of job strain in the relationship between depression and LTSA, but also evidence that this was due to differences in baseline depression prevalence in the different job strain categories. Future research is needed to determine alternative factors which could be relevant for reducing LTSA among those who have already developed depression.

Analyzing The Causes of Project Failure and Cost Overruns in Building Construction Industry by Using a Mixed-Methods Approach

This study investigated the reasons for project failures and cost overruns in building construction. The building construction industry is well known for chronic issues such as fragmentation, cost overruns, poor working conditions, and insufficient quality, all of which result in project failure. Project failure and cost are the two most essential indicators of success in a construction project because they have an equal impact on all project participants, both favorably and negatively. These problems have been evident for many years across the global construction industry, requiring the identification of the primary causes to address these challenges. The use of both quantitative and qualitative approaches was important, as it made it easier to accomplish the overall goal of solving the problem because quantitative data were collected via surveys and qualitative data were collected through interviews. Data was gathered from 104 team members in Pakistan's building construction industry. The top five reasons for project failure were poor project management, poor design, frequent design changes, design errors, bureaucracy, corruption, poor quality, and poor site management. The top five reasons for cost overruns were poor start-up planning, poor project cost estimation, poor weather conditions, political situations, and the economic instability of the country. Minimizing these factors can contribute to a greater probability of project success and overall improvement in the construction industry.

Insufficient numbers and poor working conditions for rangers protecting tigers

AbstractProtected area rangers are planetary health care workers and are at the frontline of the protection of wildlife and wild places. Ensuring that there are sufficient rangers in protected areas, and that these rangers are equipped and provided with decent working conditions, is critical to protecting iconic species such as tiger Panthera tigris. Using data from a global survey of public‐sector ranger numbers, we estimate the shortfall in the number of rangers required to safeguard protected areas in Tiger Conservation Landscapes (TCLs) across the 10 Asian countries with breeding tigers. We calculate the cost required to address this shortfall in ranger numbers. We also estimate the costs for meeting a subset of the welfare needs of rangers aligned to the Chitwan Declaration of the World Ranger Congress. We estimate that a minimum of 12,500 more rangers are required across ~320,000 km2 of tiger‐bearing protected areas. We estimate this would cost US$ 45.8 million annually. The majority (63%) of these rangers are required in three Southeast Asian countries, which have declining tiger numbers. To meet a subset of the basic welfare needs of rangers, we estimate that an additional US$ 7.8 million is required annually across the 10 countries. While the funding gap that we estimate excludes many aspects of effective protected area management, we provide further evidence that protected areas in the biodiverse tropics remain underfunded. Increasing funding for rangers is a critical component of what is required to protect the tiger and tiger landscapes. We urge tiger range country governments, and the global conservation community, to secure this funding. Increasing the numbers of rangers, and effectively supporting their welfare, will increase our ability to protect the tiger and the ecologically significant landscapes in which it occurs.

Platform work and traditional employee protection: The need for alternative legal approaches

Paid work via digital platforms (so-called crowd work and gig work) is gaining in importance in Europe. Platform workers often suffer poor working conditions. Most platform companies treat crowd and gig workers as self-employed or independent contractors and, thus, normally protective labour laws do not apply. In response, initiatives have been taken through case law and legislation to extend the reach of the traditional employmentship to platform work. For example, the German Federal Labour Court ( Bundesarbeitsgericht) reclassified and treated platform workers as employees in high-profile rulings, which are discussed in more detail below. The recently adopted EU Directive on Platform Work enshrines a legal presumption of employment for platform workers. Regulations have also recently been introduced in EU Member States that subsume platform workers under the concept of employee. However, as argued in this article, legal and judicial initiatives aimed at extending the employee status often have limits given the market dynamics and de facto adaptation and circumvention strategies used by platform businesses. Moreover, traditional labour law protection does not always seem to be suitable for tackling the complexities and peculiarities of the various types of platforms. The following theses therefore seem worth discussing: 1. Extending employee status to platform work appears promising if this is already anchored in the socio-economic reality and if a consensus can be reached between the social partners in this regard. An existing example is the Spanish riders’ law, which pursues a sectoral approach and was supported not only by trade union organisations but also by employers’ associations. 2. In addition, the creation of a substantial core of social rights for platform workers, irrespective of employment status, should be strongly focused and legally brought forward. The long-standing scholarly discussion about alternative regulatory approaches to forms of work in the legal grey area between dependent employment and self-employment should be revived and made fruitful for the new phenomenon of digital work platforms. 3. Thirdly, self-regulatory Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives by platform companies to improve working conditions should be encouraged by legislators and policymakers. As will be shown later in this article, a wide range of CSR efforts by the platforms already exist. In order to counter the risk of window dressing, the platform business operators’ own initiatives should be made effective through appropriate flanking legal measures and public pressure.

Nellie Bly’s life and journalism in comics and the adaptations of Ten Days in a Mad-House

ABSTRACT One hundred years have passed since Nellie Bly’s death and yet she continues to be celebrated for her journalism and for being a feminist icon. This is in part thanks to her reports on women’s poor working conditions and her trip around the world when it was unthinkable for a woman to take the journey alone. Bly also stands out for her undercover investigations, chiefly among them is when she feigned insanity to be committed to an insane asylum to reveal its cold-hearted conditions. Because of all of this, Bly has been the subject of many adaptations throughout the years, including in comics. However, Bly’s exploits in the asylum have been mostly absent from this medium. That is, until recently with the publication of four graphic novels. To explore this matter further, this study will start by approaching Bly’s career, followed by an analysis of her many comic features. Afterwards, this study will then consider the recent adaptations of Bly’s asylum report, while comparing it with her original work. Finally, we will seek to understand why it took so long to adapt it into the comic book medium.

Strategies to enhance public health doctor system in South Korea

Background: South Korea’s public health doctor system requires physicians to provide primary healthcare in medically underserved areas, such as rural regions, as an alternative to mandatory military service. Recently, concerns have arisen over the decline in the number of public health doctors available in these underserved areas. This study reviews issues related to the public health doctor system and proposes strategies for enhancing its management.Current Concepts: The annual number of public health doctors has steadily decreased by approximately 46.6%, from 1,962 in 2008 to 1,048 in 2022. According to the survey, the reasons behind this decline include the lengthy service period of 36 months compared to the 18-month military service, poor working conditions, low financial support, unreasonable manpower deployment, and uncertain social status.Discussion and Conclusion: Several recommendations can enhance the effectiveness of the public health doctor system. First, the mandatory service period of 36 months should be shortened, and a military training period of 1–2 months should be incorporated into the overall service duration. Second, ensuring appropriate working hours, including holidays, along with improved working conditions and reasonable financial support and compensation, is essential. Third, the role of public health doctors should shift from solely providing basic primary healthcare to acting as public health managers in local communities. Lastly, a long-term plan should be developed to establish various types of medical institutions in medically underserved regions.

Quitting with a crowd: An exploration of teachers’ resignation stories on TikTok

This exploratory case study examines 35 popular posts on #teacherquittok, describing how teachers use multimodal elements to illuminate an unsustainable teaching profession across the United States. Employing multimodal content and frame analyses, this study finds posts take on a political dimension, linking resignations to workplace grievances. However, posts rarely make policy demands or encourage offline activism. Hence, #teacherquittok resembles new social movements online that emphasize building coalitions and shared narratives rather than overt action. These findings suggest that #teacherquittok is a platform for teachers to voice challenges and contribute to public discourse related to poor working conditions across the profession.

“There Is No Safe Place in This Plant”: Refugee Workers in Canadian Meatpacking and the Limits of Permanent Legal Status

Following spring 2020’s deadly COVID-19 outbreaks in the Alberta meatpacking industry, we conducted research with meatpackers who were formerly resettled refugees and now Canadian permanent residents (PRs) or Canadian citizens. Research with temporary foreign workers often promotes permanent legal status as a solution to poor conditions of precarious work in Canada, but even with permanent immigration status, former refugees experienced a large gap between their rights as “guaranteed” by the state through their PR status and their daily work in meatpacking plants in rural Alberta. Work in the plants is dangerous, dirty, and difficult, and employees found it difficult to enact their rights as workers. Access to adequate breaks, sick days, and other mandated requirements was reported to be contested and contingent. Former refugees working in this sector experience unexpected “unfreedom.”

Diagnosing the Issue: Understanding and Combating Medical Brain Drain in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Abstract This study investigates emigration patterns among healthcare professionals in Bosnia and Herzegovina, examining the underlying reasons for emigration and proposing actionable solutions to curb this trend. A mixed-methods approach is employed, combining quantitative data from surveys administered to medical and health studies students with qualitative insights from interviews with governmental officials, language educators, and statistical agencies. The findings reveal significant dissatisfaction with socio-economic and political conditions, prompting healthcare professionals to seek opportunities abroad. Major reasons for going abroad include political instability, low wages, and poor working conditions, while better pay and career opportunities are attracting factors. While the study is limited by the lack of comprehensive official statistics on emigration, the implications of this research emphasize the need for policy interventions aiming to improve local working conditions and reform educational systems. The study provides valuable insights for policymakers and stakeholders to effectively address the issue of brain drain.

MOTIVATION OF CROATIAN HEALTH WORKERS TO GO ABROAD

Introduction: Prior to Croatia's accession to the European Union, nurses could be employed in Germany under an agreement between the German Federal Agency and the Croatian Employment Service. Following Croatia's accession to the European Union in 2015, thelabor market has become more accessible and open. Objective: Explore the motivation of Croatian health workers to go abroad.Subjects and methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted. The study was conducted using a survey consisting of 29 questions and involving a total of 102 respondents, and three interviews were conducted for research purposes. Results: The participants attend retraining to ensure a better future for their children abroad (38.1 %), to find a good, steady and better paid job (23.5 %) and to obtain a dignified pension (63.7 %). As the main reason for emigration, respondents cite corruption and injustice (65.7 %), non-arrangement of the state (59.8 %), while seeing the biggest problem in leaving the family (20.6 %). At the end of 2019 Croatia was abandoned by 1,438 nurses, mainly due to poor working conditions and dissatisfaction with the material conditions of work in Croatia. This trend included other health professionals. Conclusion: The main factor for the emigration of health professionals is the political organization of the state, which is manifested by corruption and injustice, clientelism, political affiliation, and replaces man's knowledge, ability, skill, value and dignity. Keywords: motivation, departure, health professionals, abroad

Work-related musculoskeletal disorders and associated factors among weavers working in Bahir Dar City, Northwest Ethiopia: cross-sectional study design

BackgroundWork-related musculoskeletal disorders are one of the most common public health problems throughout the world. It is a major cause of occupational injury, illness, and disability that leads to an increased rate of sick leave, financial costs for both individuals and society and the health care system. Weavers are among the populations exposed to musculoskeletal disorders due to a lack of occupational safety, health services, and poor working conditions. Yet, little is known about WMSD among weavers in Africa particularly in Ethiopia. Thus, this study aimed to assess the prevalence and associated factors of work-related musculoskeletal disorders among weavers.MethodA multi-centered institutional-based cross-sectional study was conducted in Bahir Dar City, Ethiopia among 424 weavers with a response rate of 97.7%. Participants were recruited randomly after proportional allocation was done for each institution and face-to-face interviews were employed to collect data using a well-structured questionnaire adopted from the Nordic musculoskeletal questionnaire and different literature. The data were entered into Epidata and analyzed using SPSS version (Choobineh A, Lahmi M, Shahnavaz H, Khani Jazani R, Hosseini M. Int J Occup Saf Ergon, 10:157–68, 2004). Variables with a P-value < 0.25 in the bivariate logistic regression were entered into a multivariable logistic regression model. Finally, variables with an AOR, a 95% confidence interval, and a P-value of < 0.05 were reported.ResultThe annual prevalence rate of work-related musculoskeletal disorders among weavers was 76.3% [CI = 72.2 to 80.2%]. Longer working hours [AOR = 3.48, CI = (1.96–6.21)] lack of back support during sitting [AOR = 2.50 (1.293–4.480)], having repetitive movement in weaving [AOR = 4.11(2.029–8.324)], attaining awkward posture [AOR = 3.37(1.875–6.059)] and job stress [AOR = 4.37(2.447–7.816)] was significantly associated with work-related musculoskeletal disorders.ConclusionsThis study revealed a high prevalence of WMSDs among weavers. Our study findings reported that longer working hours, lack of back support during sitting, having repetitive movement in weaving attaining awkward posture, and having job stress were significantly associated with work-related musculoskeletal disorders.

Long-Term Emotional Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Barriers and Facilitators to Digital Mental Health Tools in Long-Term Care Workers: Qualitative Study.

The overall pandemic created enormous pressure on long-term care workers (LTCWs), making them particularly vulnerable to mental disorders. Despite this, most of the available evidence on professional well-being during COVID-19 has exclusively focused on frontline health care workers. This study aimed to identify the long-term psychological needs of LTCWs derived from the COVID-19 pandemic and to explore barriers and facilitators related to digital mental health tools. This is part of a project that seeks to develop a digital mental health intervention to reduce psychological distress in this population group. We performed a qualitative study with a rapid research approach. Participants were LTCWs of the autonomous community of Catalonia. We conducted 30 semistructured interviews between April and September 2022. We used a qualitative content analysis method with an inductive-deductive approach. The period of the pandemic with the highest mental health burden was the COVID-19 outbreak, with almost all workers having experienced some form of emotional distress. Emotional distress persisted over time in more than half of the participants, with fatigue and nervousness being the main emotions expressed at the time of the interview. High workload, the feeling that pandemic times are not over, and poor working conditions that have remained since then have been the most frequently expressed determinants of such emotions. Potential barriers and facilitators to engagement with digital tools were also identified in terms of previous experience and beliefs of the target population, possibilities for the integration of a digital tool into daily life, preferences regarding the level of guidance, the possibility of social connectedness through the tool, and privacy and confidentiality. The identified factors may become especially relevant in the context of the pandemic remission phase. More than 2 years after the pandemic outbreak, emotional distress is still relevant. The persistent burden of psychological distress points to a need for institutions to take action to improve working conditions and promote employees' well-being. Considering factors that act as barriers and facilitators for the use of digital mental health tools, it is important to develop tailored tools that could offer valuable support to this population during and after a pandemic.

Planning in Ghana: analysis of the various forms of professional misconduct from the perspective of professional planners

ABSTRACT A study of 46 professional planners across Ghana, found that 60% of those interviewed are unaware of the prescribed codes of ethics. Respondents identified prevalent forms of professional misconduct including bribery, corruption, and unfair dealing among others. Factors contributing to this misconduct are political interference, weak enforcement of ethics codes, poor working conditions, and low incomes. The participants of the study also identified that unethical behaviour among planners can result in the development of unapproved structures, encroachment on ecologically sensitive areas, and low confidence in the planning system. The study suggests the need for a more comprehensive ethical code of conduct for professional planning practice in Ghana with effective enforcement mechanisms.

Examining the intersection of carceral space and well‐being: Correctional officers' perspectives on old and new prison design

AbstractIn the current study, we explored the prison design and infrastructural changes that Canadian correctional officers consider to be essential in the construction of a new provincial correctional institution intended to replace Her Majesty's Penitentiary (HMP) in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Analyzing 28 semi‐structured interviews conducted with correctional officers employed at HMP, we found the poor working conditions within HMP are, at least in part, related to the physical design of the prison, including inadequate lighting, poor air quality and temperature, high sound levels, and other spatial limitations. Building on the prison design literature, findings suggest that while prison design requires attention to physical security at the forefront, there are ways to improve the space, recognizing how an uncomfortable workplace and living conditions also pose a potential threat to the well‐being and safety of correctional officers and people who are incarcerated.

Predictability and transparency of working conditions for food delivery platform workers across selected EU countries

AbstractWhile prior research has demonstrated the poor and unpredictable working conditions and ambiguous working arrangements characteristic of platform‐based food delivery, we lack research on the question of how well these workers are informed about essential aspects of their work, including protection of their rights, working time and schedules, and earnings. Comprehensive and transparent information on working conditions at an early stage is indispensable if workers are to be able to make informed decisions on taking up work and, where relevant, investing in equipment and exercising rights linked to a specific job. Drawing on the multi‐dimensional job quality literature, this article focuses on digital labour platforms in the food delivery sector across four countries: Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Spain. We exploit firm‐level variations, including with regard to the types of work arrangements used and the application—or not—of collective agreements. We draw on information provided to riders during the application process prior to the start of employment, including via websites and FAQs, as well as scrutiny of contracts, service agreements and collective bargaining agreements, where relevant. This information is complemented with interviews with trade union representatives. Our findings point to the relationship between a firm's choice of employment status and form of contract, on one hand, and the predictability and transparency of information provided to workers, on the other. Differences and similarities in such information seem to be more strongly bound to firm‐level decisions than to the welfare and industrial relations regimes in which the platform companies operate.