Up to 60 per cent of working people feel their job makes them ill, an increase that corresponds with unprecedented changes in the nature of work in the past 20 years, a leading occupational psychologist has said.
Prof Tom Cox, Professor of Occupational Psychology at the Institute of Work, Health and Organisation at the University of Nottingham, told a conference of occupational health doctors that work-related illness tends to occur "when work load gets out of control".
There is a direct link between loss of control and the trend towards globalisation of employees, he said.
Addressing the annual general meeting of the Faculty of Occupational Medicine at the Royal College of Physicians in Dublin yesterday, Prof Cox said that as work becomes more fragmented - with an increase in part-time, flexible, mobile jobs and 24 hour working - the traditional commitment and ownership experienced by employees in the past has gone.
A survey of self-reported work-related illness in Britain has shown that musculo-skeletal disorders (such as back pain) and stress are the two main problems. Risk factors for work place illness identified by the research include workload and work pace. Feeling unsupported was another significant factor. Prof Cox told the meeting that the study had identified at-risk groups as those who worked alone, older workers and those in professional occupations.
He also referred to a recent European Survey of Working Conditions which found that psychosocial issues were now 11 times more important than physical factors in the development of work-related illness.
Advocating a Scandinavian model in dealing with work related stress, Prof Cox said we need to move away from a prescriptive approach to one of partnership involving joint problem solving between employer and employee.
"It is important to educate and involve workers, recognising their expertise while at the same time shaping their expectations. We must think in terms of an 'active' interaction between people and their work position rather than seeing employees as people who are 'reacting' to a situation they find themselves in," he said.
In terms of reducing the risk of occupational stress, Prof Cox said there was a need for prevention in the form of job and work design, social engineering and staff training as well as prompt treatment for those affected.
"We are seeing new forms of work and new challenges to work-related health and I would particularly welcome a new alliance between occupational medicine and occupational psychology for the benefit of the worker."
Earlier, the meeting heard that fatigue in transport workers contributed to 30-40 per cent of all trucking accidents and was implicated in more fatal accidents than alcohol or drugs. Defining fatigue as a loss of alertness which eventually ends in sleep, Dr David Waite, principal medical adviser to British Petroleum in New Zealand, said research has found that fatigue in heavy goods vehicle drivers was related to collar size and regular snoring (both of which are indicators of a condition called sleep apnoea syndrome).
Outlining the error chain which leads to fatigue problems, Dr Waite said restricted sleep led to reduced mental and physical capacity with a consequent rise in errors of judgment.
