Prevention Of Work-related Illness Research Articles

Attending Weak Signals: The Prevention of Work-related Illnesses

This article examines the characteristics of communication among managers, human resource (HR) experts, and occupational health care specialists, as they deal with such informal information as weak signals in the prevention of work-related illnesses, using a theoretical framework in which the prevention of work-related illness is analogous to theory on crisis management. This is a qualitative study in which individual and focus-group interviews were conducted in a Swedish context with occupational health care specialists, managers, and HR experts. The results suggest that organizational solutions have failed and continue to fail at controlling workers’ health problems, although the main difficulty is not in identifying the ‘right’ individually oriented weak signals. Rather, it is upper management’s reliance on formal information (e.g., statistics and surveys) – because of the difficulty in supplementing it with informal information (e.g., rumors and gossip) – that makes it difficult to improve traditional health and safety work

Attending Weak Signals: The Prevention of Work-related Illnesses

This article examines the characteristics of communication among managers, human resource (HR) experts, and occupational health care specialists, as they deal with such informal information as weak signals in the prevention of work-related illnesses, using a theoretical framework in which the prevention of work-related illness is analogous to theory on crisis management. This is a qualitative study in which individual and focus-group interviews were conducted in a Swedish context with occupational health care specialists, managers, and HR experts. The results suggest that organizational solutions have failed and continue to fail at controlling workers’ health problems, although the main difficulty is not in identifying the ‘right’ individually oriented weak signals. Rather, it is upper management’s reliance on formal information (e.g., statistics and surveys) – because of the difficulty in supplementing it with informal information (e.g., rumors and gossip) – that makes it difficult to improve traditional health and safety work.

Work risk related to illness and defensive strategies of collectors women's waste recyclable

Objective: To investigate the risk of work-related illness in, and the defensive strategies of, women who collect recyclable materials (waste pickers). Methods: A qualitative, exploratory and descriptive study, undertaken with seven collectors from a collective in the Brazilian State of Rio Grande do Sul. Data was produced through systematic participant observation, semi-structured interviews and a focus group, from July to August 2013, and was subjected to thematic content analysis. Results: The strain that comes from the work may promote the collectors' illness, as it compromises their physical health, psychic integrity and social relationships. The collectors use individual and collective defensive strategies, which aim to minimize the suffering related to labor activity. Conclusion: Nurses need to consider the work contexts of workers whom they assist in order to act in the promotion of health and prevention of work-related illness.

Impact of socio-economic determinants of demand for health for investment purpose

Ill-health either results in reduced work capacity or loss of days worked and either of these, ipso facto, results in loss of productivity to firms and society and loss of income to employees. Occupational health and safety practice is about prevention of work related illnesses and protection of workers from physical injury and industrial accidents. However, much of the recent discussions have focused more on prevention of industrial accidents and injury with little attention given to prevention of illnesses related to work. This paper explores this gap. The paper examines the impact of socio-economic factors on the demand for preventive medical services by employees. Primary data was used for the study: Questionnaires were administered and interviews conducted for the collection of the data. Using the convenient sampling method, 400 employees in Kumasi, Ghana, were sampled from the private-formal and informal sectors. Both qualitative and quantitative analyses were carried out. Multivariate analysis using multinomial logistic regression model was employed to estimate the impact of socio-economic factors influencing employees decision to seek preventive medical services. The study found income, free, and convenient access to medical services statistically significant and impacted positively on the demand for preventive medical services. Stakeholders should pay more attention to these variables when designing and reviewing health programmes that have impact on employees health investment decisions. Keywords: Health Capital, Preventive Medical Services, Health Investment, Employees.

The role of insurance in the prevention of work-related accidents in France in the first half of the 20th century.

Insurance has played a role in the develoment of prevention of work-related accidents in several ways in France since the industrical revolution. The first attempts at prevention were taken at the initiative of manufacturers' associations, but it remained a matter of goodwill for manufacturers. The 1898 law gave systematic, if partial, financial responsability for occupational hazards to employers, who turned to insurance companies to carry the risks. As a result a new branch of insurance (assurance-loi) appeared, which accounted for 40% of general accident revenue for companies at the time of World War II. But the new law made no mention of prevention and even had a negative impact, since compensation was taken care of by insurance. However, after World War I, insurance companies created an association for the prevention of work-related accidents and illnesses and started to adjust rates according to the prevention efforts of corporations. When social insurance was generalized in 1946, insurance of occupational hazards went under state control and became compulsory. But the experience accumulated in the field of prevention by insurance companies was put to use in this new context, both on the technical side and the financial side.