Jungsun Park1, Boyoung Han2, Jong-Shik Park2, Eun Ji Park3, Yangho Kim4. 1. Department of Occupational Health, Catholic University of Daegu, Gyeongsan, South Korea. 2. Department of Sociology, Yonsei University, Seoul, South Korea. 3. Environmental Health Center, Ulsan University Hospital, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Ulsan, South Korea. 4. Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Ulsan University Hospital, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Ulsan, South Korea.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Permanent jobs are in decline world-wide, and are being replaced with temporary, casual, part-time, and contract jobs. We investigated the characteristics and occupational safety and health (OSH) vulnerabilities of workers with nonstandard and standard employment. METHODS: We used the Korean Working Conditions Survey of 2017 to compare working conditions and OSH vulnerabilities of workers with standard and nonstandard employment in five major job categories. RESULTS: Workers with nonstandard employment were older, less educated, had lower monthly incomes, were employed in smaller businesses, worked fewer hours per week, had shorter work durations, and were more likely to report exposure to physical/chemical and ergonomic hazards, and musculoskeletal and mental symptoms. Among nonstandard workers, the rates of occupational hazards and work-related health problems depended on the type of work performed. In particular, nonstandard male workers who were unskilled manual workers, older, had less education, and earned low wages had a greater risk of working in unstable occupations, greater exposures to occupational hazards, and more musculoskeletal pain (back pain: odds ratio [OR], 2.4; upper extremity pain: OR, 2.1; and lower extremity pain: OR, 1.7) than those performing other types of work. CONCLUSION: Male unskilled manual workers with nonstandard employment were most vulnerable to OSH problems. Our findings suggest the need for OSH programs that specifically target nonstandard workers especially those in manual unskilled occupations.
BACKGROUND: Permanent jobs are in decline world-wide, and are being replaced with temporary, casual, part-time, and contract jobs. We investigated the characteristics and occupational safety and health (OSH) vulnerabilities of workers with nonstandard and standard employment. METHODS: We used the Korean Working Conditions Survey of 2017 to compare working conditions and OSH vulnerabilities of workers with standard and nonstandard employment in five major job categories. RESULTS: Workers with nonstandard employment were older, less educated, had lower monthly incomes, were employed in smaller businesses, worked fewer hours per week, had shorter work durations, and were more likely to report exposure to physical/chemical and ergonomic hazards, and musculoskeletal and mental symptoms. Among nonstandard workers, the rates of occupational hazards and work-related health problems depended on the type of work performed. In particular, nonstandard male workers who were unskilled manual workers, older, had less education, and earned low wages had a greater risk of working in unstable occupations, greater exposures to occupational hazards, and more musculoskeletal pain (back pain: odds ratio [OR], 2.4; upper extremity pain: OR, 2.1; and lower extremity pain: OR, 1.7) than those performing other types of work. CONCLUSION: Male unskilled manual workers with nonstandard employment were most vulnerable to OSH problems. Our findings suggest the need for OSH programs that specifically target nonstandard workers especially those in manual unskilled occupations.
Authors: Matthew A Ng; Anthony Naranjo; Ann E Schlotzhauer; Mindy K Shoss; Nika Kartvelishvili; Matthew Bartek; Kenneth Ingraham; Alexis Rodriguez; Sara Kira Schneider; Lauren Silverlieb-Seltzer; Carolina Silva Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2021-09-28 Impact factor: 3.390