High levels of work-related stress in agricultural sector

Secondary analysis of data from a recent survey on wage levels and working conditions among Hungarian employees revealed a high level of reported stress in the agricultural sector. Most of the agricultural workers complained about physical exhaustion and tiredness at the end of their working day, which contributes to stress. Some 60% of workers complained of working to tight deadlines. Preventive measures in the workplace are needed to address this situation.

About the study

A survey of 1,000 employees was conducted in April 2008, in the framework of the European-funded EQUAL WageIndicator project, to assess gender pay differences in the Hungarian labour market. The results of the survey enabled an analysis of working conditions in the agricultural sector. Thus, the Agriculture Sectoral Social Dialogue Committee carried out secondary analysis of the survey data on work-related stress and published the results in a study entitled Workplace stress and the related tasks of social partners (A munkahelyi stressz különös tekintettel a szociális partnerek feladataira (1.5Mb PDF)).

Background

In Hungary, the issue of work-related stress has been included in Act XCIII of 1993 on Labour Protection of the Labour Code since 1 January 2008. Section 54.(1)d sets out that the employer is obliged to plan and organise work in a way that seeks to prevent or reduce risks to health and safety, selecting the tools, designing the work process – that is, by limiting the period spent on monotonous and fixed work processes to alleviate their impact – and setting working time arrangements. The employer is required to carry out a qualitative and, if necessary, quantitative assessment of the risks affecting the health and safety of employees, which must also address psychosocial hazards. The latter are defined as the impacts of conflicts, the work arrangement, the sequence of work, the precariousness of the employment relationship and other factors affecting the employee’s behaviour, which may bring about stress, work-related accidents and psychosomatic illnesses.

National legislation is in line with the autonomous framework agreement on work-related stress (78Kb PDF) signed in October 2004 by the European social partners: the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), the European employer organisation BusinessEurope (formerly UNICE), the European Centre of Enterprises with Public Participation and of Enterprises of General Economic Interest (Centre européen des entreprises à participation publique et des entreprises d’intérêt économique général, CEEP) and the European Association of Craft, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (Union Européenne de l’artisanat et des petites et moyennes enterprises, UEAPME). The joint agreement provides employers and workers with a framework to identify, prevent and manage problems in this regard (EU0410206F, EU0902019I).

Sectoral impact

According to the Fourth European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS), carried out in 2005 by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound), 30% of workers in the agricultural sector consider that their health and safety are at risk because of their work. This rate is the highest of all sectors of economic activity. Therefore, it is important to explore the factors causing stress in the agricultural sector. Eurofound also provides a sector fact sheet, giving a snapshot of working conditions in the agricultural sector, based on secondary analysis of the fourth EWCS data.

Survey findings on agriculture

Of the entire survey sample in Hungary in April 2008, 236 respondents were working in agriculture. Respondents were asked to assess statements using a scale of one to five (1 – fully disagree, 2 – agree to a very small degree, 3 – moderately agree, 4 – more or less agree, 5 – fully agree; 0 – no opinion).

More than half of the agricultural employees surveyed do not consider work as having an adverse impact on their health: as many as 55% of the respondents fully disagreed with the statement that the workplace is harmful to their health. However, answers to other survey questions reveal a more complex picture.

Some 42% of the agricultural employees surveyed revealed that stress posed a problem for them in their work. Monotony seems to affect these workers to a lesser extent (28%). A total of 56% of the workers indicated that they were moderately concerned about job stability, giving a score of three on a scale of one to five.

Physical and mental fatigue

Physical fatigue is one of the main health outcomes related to agricultural work: 72% of employees agreed fully (five on a scale of one to five) or at least moderately (three on the scale) with the statement ‘I go home tired’. The study concluded that the implication is that breaks and rest periods are of particular importance in agriculture.

Fewer respondents (56%) mentioned that mental fatigue was a problem. Nevertheless, almost one third of the respondents reported that they do not have time to take a lunch break. According to the authors of the study, the absence of lunch breaks may cause physical and/or mental tiredness or an overstrained condition.

The Hungarian Labour Code defines overtime as ‘any work performed outside the work schedule, or over and above the working time cycle, or in stand-by duty’. It considers the normal work schedule for full-time employment to amount to eight working hours a day or 40 hours a week; this may be averaged over not more than two-month or eight-week cycles. Overtime greatly or moderately affects 34% of the agricultural employees surveyed, while a fast working pace posed a problem for 51% of them. Some 60% of the respondents complained of having to work to tight deadlines.

Commentary

The survey in Hungary underlines that workers in agriculture report a high level of work-related stress. Hence, it is particularly important in this sector to address this problem through preventive measures. The study concludes that, while the sectoral social partners have an important role to play with respect to raising awareness and disseminating information at sectoral level, the social partners at company level play a fundamental part in implementing and formulating stress prevention and work organisation policies.

Katalin Balogh, Institute for Political Science, Hungarian Academy of Sciences