First national study on working conditions

With financial assistance from the European Union Social Fund, the Ministry of Welfare has commissioned the first-ever study on working conditions in Latvia. The study aims to gather information on work safety and to develop recommendations for improving the legal framework regulating this field in order to improve working conditions and the working environment in Latvian companies. The research focuses on two main fields – legal employment relations and the working environment – and examines the relation between both areas. The research results will be available at the beginning of 2007.

The Ministry of Welfare (Labklājības ministrija, LM) has initiated a study entitled ‘Working conditions and risks in Latvia’. The research is supported by the European Social Fund within the framework of the national Labour Market Research Programme. The study is being conducted by Inspecta Latvia, in cooperation with the Work and Environmental Health Institute of Rīga Stradiņš University (Rīgas Stradiņa universitātes Darba un vides veselības institūts) and the sociological research company TNS Latvia. The Director of the Work and Environmental Health Institute of the Rīga Stradiņš University, Maija Eglīte, is managing the project.

Aim of study

The study aims to clarify the situation in the field of work safety and to develop recommendations for improving the legal framework regulating this area. This should facilitate compliance with the work safety requirements stipulated by legislative acts, as well as recommendations for other measures to be taken in order to improve working conditions and the working environment in Latvian companies.

The study focuses on two main fields – legal employment relations and the working environment – and examines the interaction between both areas. For instance, it considers whether certain risk factors are more common among employed people who regularly work overtime than among those working standard hours; or whether people in regions with a higher than average unemployment level agree to work in poorer or more dangerous working conditions than normal.

Methodology

The study analyses strategic planning documents in this field, normative acts, previously conducted studies and currently available databases containing information on the working environment. For example, the researchers have access to the current database on accidents at work and occupational diseases.

Information has also been obtained through questionnaires, including interviews with permanent residents of Latvia, employers and their representatives, as well as with employees. The survey’s findings will be correlated with other labour market studies. A total of 2,500 employed people responded to this first national survey on working conditions, and the analysis differentiates between employed and self-employed respondents.

In addition, the study aimed to interview specific groups, including vulnerable groups, such as pregnant women and disabled workers, as well as work safety specialists with higher professional education in the field of occupational health and safety. Investigating the objective situation of the working environment is also part of the study.

The research is being carried out at national level including the widest possible representation in order to capture ethnic and regional aspects.

Study results

On the basis of the study results, the possible options for development in the area of working conditions and the working environment will be decided. The recommendations will consider long-term general objectives, such as those laid out in the Lisbon Strategy, but will also include practical short and medium-term proposals to be implemented in the coming years. A cost-benefit analysis will support each recommendation.

The study began in October 2005 and is planned to conclude at the end of January 2007. In the autumn of 2006, the main surveys were conducted and initial findings have been identified, although these will only be available after the study is completed.

Benefits of study

Much has been done in Latvia to improve the quality of the working environment, and many regulations and standards have been adopted. The information and recommendations from this study will result in better work safety arrangements at national level. The proposals are likely to suggest improving implementation of already existing standards, amending unsuccessful legislative regulations and adopting new regulations, although the authors of the report have so far refrained from revealing the research findings.

Raita Karnite, Institute of Economics, Latvian Academy of Sciences