Working conditions for a number of European employees are not where they should be, this according to a recent survey.
While just more than half of European workers perceive working conditions in their country to be good (53%),a majority (57%) nevertheless think that their working conditions have deteriorated in the last 5 years, according to a Eurobarometer survey published recently, which looks at how the quality of work has been affected by the crisis.
Although most workers are satisfied with their own working conditions (77% on average in the EU), there is a very wide disparity across Member States, ranging from 94% in Denmark to 38% in Greece. Generally, most workers express high levels of satisfaction with their working hours (80%) and health and safety at work (85%).
Among the interesting numbers from the report:
- More than 80% of respondents in Denmark, Luxembourg, Finland and The Netherlands consider working conditions in their country to be good. At individual workers’ level, Denmark also comes first, with 94% of workers being satisfied of their own conditions at work;
- On the opposite side, Greece has the lowest rate of satisfaction at country level (16%) and is the only country where fewer than half of working respondents are satisfied with their current conditions (38%).
Concern over Emerging Risks
Among the other data taken from the survey:
- A number of findings tend to confirm an increase in work intensity. Stress clearly emerges as the most important perceived risk at work (for 53% of working respondents). In addition, dissatisfaction regarding workload, pace of work and long working days (more than 13 hours) is more widespread than other issues such as lack of interest in the tasks or inadequate rest periods on a weekly or annual basis;
- Regarding work organization, in relation to work-life balance, 40% of respondents declare that they are not offered the possibility to use flexible working arrangements;
- In the area of health and safety at work, less than one in three workers declared that there are measures in place at their workplace to address emerging risks (for example caused by nanotechnologies or biotechnology), or directed to older and chronically ill workers. Together with stress, poor ergonomics is perceived as one of the most important risks at work, with 28% of respondents identifying repetitive movements and tiring or painful positions as a main health and safety risk in their workplace, and 24% lifting, carrying or moving loads on a daily basis.
Author Kori Shafer-Stack, Editor, Amaxx Risk Solutions, Inc. is an expert in post-injury response procedures and part of the Amaxx team helping companies reduce their workers compensation costs by 20% to 50%. www.reduceyourworkerscomp.com. Contact: kstack@reduceyourworkerscomp.com.
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