Employees’ view of working conditions and health and safety

A survey by the Institute of Labour and Family Research in 2010 examined the attitudes of employers (managers and directors), employees and safety specialists to the application of occupational health and safety (OSH) requirements in 50 Slovak enterprises. Compared with the results of a similar survey in 2004, employees were generally more aware of OSH requirements and more satisfied about the information provided and the approach adopted by employers to OSH issues.

Characteristics of the survey

The survey (in Czech, 2.67Mb PDF) conducted in 2010 by the Institute of Labour and Family Research (IVPR) to identify the attitudes of employers and employees to health and safety at work in the Slovak Republic also considered the views of employees on the quality of their working conditions. Since the survey’s declared objective was to determine the attitudes of employees to occupational health and safety (OSH) issues, it concentrated on the following issues.

• How important do employees currently think OSH is?

• How well did the employers meet their obligations and responsibilities for OSH?

• What incentives and motivations affect the attitudes of employees towards compliance with OSH requirements?

• What are the needs and expectations of employees to create conditions for OSH?

The survey was conducted in 50 enterprises across the Slovak Republic. The survey sample was selected according to:

• size – micro companies, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and large enterprises;

• regional distribution;

• type of ownership – joint stock company, limited company, state organisation;

• risk level of the performed activity.

Within the framework of the survey, 260 employees were interviewed of whom 15 were employee health and safety representatives.

Survey results

• Employees perceive OSH as something that affects their choice of job and workplace. Work with a higher risk of damage to their health but with a better salary would not be accepted by 68% of employees, while 15% would give priority to work with higher risk and higher salary. The remainder did not respond.

• An increase in the care taken in the area of OSH by management in the last 2–3 years was reported by 53% of employees. However, 10% of employees did not feel there had been any increase in care in this area; these respondents tended to be from the manufacturing, trade, services and health sectors.

• Satisfaction with education, training and provision of OSH information in enterprises was reported by 78% of employees. They were satisfied with training, the information provided to them about working practices, risks at work and instructions about how to perform work safely. Only 5% of employees had a negative attitude.

• A willingness to get involved in trying to improve their working conditions (by expressing an opinion on the company’s OSH policy, investigating the reasons for occupational accidents and diseases, and proposing measures to improve the situation) was expressed by 70% of respondents; 12% of respondents had a negative attitude.

• The way in which the executives are willing to accept the employees’ view on OSH was assessed by 70% of respondents as positive and only 6% of them had a negative attitude.

• Current working conditions were assessed by 42% of employees as ‘satisfactory’ and by 38% as ‘mainly satisfactory’; 6% had a negative attitude. Dissatisfaction was related mainly to workload and stress.

• Respondents considered it was important to strengthen the positive attitude of employees towards OSH through executive initiatives such as public recognition and competitions.

Final assessment

A comparison of the 2010 results with those from a similar survey (in Czech, 481Kb PDF) carried out by IVPR in 2004 found that employees assessed all items more positively and that they had become more interested in protecting their own health. Educational programmes and the consequent better information of employees on OSH have contributed to this improvement. Both electronic (internet, e-learning, e-news) and printed media have played a part.

References

Kordošová, M., Novotný, M., Hatina, T. and Perichtová, B., Identifikácia postojov zamestnávateľov a zamestnancov k bezpečnosti a ochrane zdravia pri práci v Slovenskej republike (2.67Mb PDF) [Identifying the attitudes of employers and employees on safety and health at work in the Slovak Republic], Bratislava, Institute of Labour and Family Research, 2010.

Škvarková, V., Gorelková, T., Hatina, T., Kordošová, M. and Matulová, S., Prieskum postojov zamestnaneckých štruktúr a inšpekčných orgánov k vytváraniu podmienok pre bezpečnosť a ochranu zdravia pri práci (481Kb PDF) [Survey of attitudes in employment structures and inspection authorities to create conditions for health and safety at work], Bratislava, Institute of Labour and Family Research, 2004.

Teodor Hatina, Institute for Labour and Family Research