beyond 2010: does increasing service work lead to more (psychosocial) risk, including violence and...

Beyond 2010:

Does increasing service work lead to more (psychosocial) risk,

including violence and harassment? 2010: does increasing service work lead to more

psychosocial

Irene Houtman, Seth van den Bossche & Karin Jettinghoff

TNO Work & Employment?

Overview

• The world of work is changing: service work

• What are the consequences for the ‘quality of work’ in service work: quality of work profiles and trends

• Interpreting trends: the example of violence and harassment

• Concluding remarks and issues for discussion

The ‘world’ of work is changing: service work increasing

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

EU 27 SERVICES

EU 27 MANUFACT EU 27 AGRICUL.

NL SERVICES NL MANUFAC. IN NL AGRICULT.

Source: Eurostat

What is service work?

• Health Care

• Education

• Public administration

• Hotels & restaurants

• Financial services (banks, insurances etc.)

• Trade (retail, wholesale)

• Transport (public, freight)

• etc…..

Quality of work in health care & social servicesHealth and social work

-1,0 -0,8 -0,6 -0,4 -0,2 0,0 0,2 0,4 0,6 0,8 1,0

Ambient conditions

Ergonomic conditions

Working hours

Non standard working hours

Fit work-home

Job demands

Job control

Skilled work

Social support

Violence

Discrimination

Stress

Muskuloskeletal problems

Absent due to health problems (yes/no)

Satisfaction with working conditions

<--- favourable -----------reference--------- unfavourable --->

ns

p<0,05

p<0,01

p<0,001

Source: EWCS

EU-27

Education

-1,0 -0,8 -0,6 -0,4 -0,2 0,0 0,2 0,4 0,6 0,8 1,0

Ambient conditions


Working hours


Fit work-home

Job demands

Job control

Skilled work

Social support

Violence

Discrimination

Stress





ns

p<0,05

p<0,01

p<0,001

Quality of work in education

Source: EWCS

EU-27

Quality of work in Public AdministrationPublic administration

-1,0 -0,8 -0,6 -0,4 -0,2 0,0 0,2 0,4 0,6 0,8 1,0

Ambient conditions


Working hours


Fit work-home

Job demands

Job control

Skilled work

Social support

Violence

Discrimination

Stress





ns

p<0,05

p<0,01

p<0,001

Source: EWCS

EU-27

Quality of work in the hotels & restaurantsHotels and restaurants

-1,0 -0,8 -0,6 -0,4 -0,2 0,0 0,2 0,4 0,6 0,8 1,0

Ambient conditions


Working hours


Fit work-home

Job demands

Job control

Skilled work

Social support

Violence

Discrimination

Stress



Absent days due to health problems



ns

p<0,05

p<0,01

p<0,001

Source: EWCS

EU-27

Quality of work in financial servicesFinancial intermediation and auxiliary activities

-1,0 -0,8 -0,6 -0,4 -0,2 0,0 0,2 0,4 0,6 0,8 1,0

Ambient conditions


Working hours


Fit work-home

Job demands

Job control

Skilled work

Social support

Violence

Discrimination

Stress





ns

p<0,05

p<0,01

p<0,001

Source: EWCS

EU-27

Wholesale and retail trade repairs

-1,0 -0,8 -0,6 -0,4 -0,2 0,0 0,2 0,4 0,6 0,8 1,0

Ambient conditions


Working hours


Fit work-home

Job demands

Job control

Skilled work

Social support

Violence

Discrimination

Stress





ns

p<0,05

p<0,01

p<0,001

Quality of Work in Trade (retail, wholesale)

Land transport

-1,0 -0,8 -0,6 -0,4 -0,2 0,0 0,2 0,4 0,6 0,8 1,0

Ambient conditions


Working hours


Fit work-home

Job demands

Job control

Skilled work

Social support

Violence

Discrimination

Stress





ns

p<0,05

p<0,01

p<0,001

Quality of work in land transport

Source: EWCS

EU-27

Typical QOW profile service sector?

• Health and social sector

• Education

• Public Administration

• Hotels & restaurants

• Finance

• Trade

• Transport (land)

Violence & harassment

Psychosocial risks in general, ergonomic risks, working hours

-

Unskilled work

Violence & harassment, and psychosocial risks in general

Change in risks (excl. violence) by sector 1995-2005 Public administration Job control

Other services Working hours

Hotels and restaurants

Working hours

Job demands,Job control

Transportation and communication

Working hours

Skilled work

Wholesale and retail trade, repairs

Working hours

Job control

Electricity, gas and water supply Working hours, Job control

Financial intermediation Ambient, weekend work

ConstructionAmbient and ergonomic conditions, job demands

Manufacturing & mining and quarrying

Agriculture, hunting and forestry + fishing Job demands

Source: EWCS

Change in physical violence by sector Prevalence ‘95-’05 trend

Public administration 7,9%

Other services 7,3%

Hotels and restaurants 6,5%

Transportation and communication 5,2%

Wholesale and retail trade, repairs 4,1%

Electricity, gas and water supply 2,7%

Financial intermediation 2,3%

Real estate and business activities 2,2%

Construction 1,6%

Manufacturing & mining and quarrying 1,3%

Agriculture, hunting and forestry + fishing 0,9%

Total 4,2%

Source: EWCS

Client contact & physical violence (EWCS)

0% 1% 2% 3% 4% 5% 6% 7% 8%

Total

Never

Almost never

Around 1/4 of the time

Around half of the time

Around 3/4 of the time

Almost all of the time

All of the time

Clie

nt c

onta

ct

Physical violence

Client contact by year of interview

Client contact: trend

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

1995 2000 2005

(almost) never

25%-75% of time

(almost) always

Source:EWCS

Variable OR OR

Wave_2000 (ref. 1995)

Wave_2005 (ref. 1995)

1.27

1.40

1.37

1.53

Female (ref. male)

Age <25 (ref. >54)

Age 25-39 (ref. >54)

Age 40-54 (ref. >54)

Hours 36-40 (ref. <36)

Hours >40 (ref. <36)

Countr. IER & UK (ref. continental)

Countr. Southern (ref. continental)

Countr. Scandinavia & NL (ref. continental)

1.12

1.48

1.79

1.58

0.97

1.24

2.30

0.50

1.48

0.93

1.29

1.64

1.49

1.07

1.13

2.08

0.47

1.40

Client contact (25%-75%) (ref. never)

Client contact (always) (ref. never)

1.96

4.44

Multivariate explanation of violence ratings

Conclusions• ‘Service work’ is quite heterogenous, with quite heterogenous risks

• General picture: working hours decrease, psychosocial risks increase in many sectors (not in finance!)

• Violence & harassment is an important risk in most of the service sectors but not all

• Violence and harassment is increasing in those service sectors where it is a risk

• However, the trend in violence and harassment seen EU-wide is not explained by increase in client contacts! Client contacts in fact decrease!

Discussion• Lack of insight in what factors determine changes in client contact

in different sectors

• Need for indicators on QUALITY of client contact (e.g. in public services): more clients and/or less time per client?

• Increase in violence in many of the service sectors.

• Stabilization in violence is particularly profound in financial services but NOT in others -> human relationships replaced by virtual contacts? Is IT the solution for stabilizing or reducing violence?

Thank you!

Irene Houtman

[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

‘Typical’ for service work

• Contacts with clients

Contact with clients is highly associated with:• Violence (physical and mental):

• Incidence rates of physical violence by customers/clients/etc have risen EU-wide:

4% (1995) to 6% (2005) EU15 (European Foundation, 2007)

21 million workers affected each year in EU-15

Consequence of increase in service work?

beyond 2010: does increasing service work lead to more (psychosocial) risk, including violence and...

Business