J.P.J. Broersen

The Relationship Between Work Characteristics and Employee Health and Well-Being: How Much Complexity Do We Really Need?

In comparison with R. A. Karasek and T. Theorells (1990) well-known demand-control-support (DCS) model, recent models of the effects of work characteristics on employee health and well-being are complex in regard to the number of characteristics included, the specificity of the relationships, and the situational specificity assumed. Data from 37,291 Dutch employees were used to examine to what extent these 3 approaches are valid. Several increasingly complex models of the relations among 7 work characteristics were compared and cross validated in 4 branches of industry. Further, these work characteristics were related to 3 outcome variables. A general model—tentatively labeled the demand-skill-support model—provided the best approximation of the relationships among work characteristics, health, and well-being.

Health complaints and working conditions experienced in relation to work and age

OBJECTIVES--The main objective is to describe the potential health and work problems of the aging employees in the Dutch working population. In this way, we can identify groups at extra risk of specific health problems. METHODS--In The Netherlands, occupational health services gather questionnaire data about work and health as part of periodical occupational health surveys (POHSs). These data from the POHSs of complaints about health and working conditions, aggregated into occupational groups and age categories, are used to provide indications for groups at extra risk of specific health problems. These problems are assessed by overviews of the relation between age and complaints about health and working conditions. RESULTS--Almost all of the health questions show an increase in health complaints with increasing age. White collar workers, especially the high grade white collar workers, usually have lower complaint percentages on health questions than blue collar workers. Female employees have relatively high complaint percentages on the health questions. Differences between occupational groups in the complaints about work and working conditions reflect the differences in work demands and exposure. The relation between age and work complaints is generally inconsistent and weak. The complaint percentages on work questions of female employees tend to be equal to or lower than those of the male employees. CONCLUSIONS--The absence of a clear increase of work complaints with advancing age in the presence of a decrease in health and working capacity may be explained by a selective turnover in the working population, especially in demanding occupations. To enhance the work participation of older employees it may be necessary to reduce the work demands and to increase decision latitude.

Monitor Arboconvenanten: kengetallen en grenswaarden

SamenvattingIn het kader van arboconvenanten tussen werkgevers, werknemers en overheid vindt op sectorniveau monitoring van arbeidsrisicos en gezondheid plaats met een werknemersvragenlijst: de Monitor Arboconvenanten. Op basis van de resultaten van een nulmeting worden doelstellingen voor het arboconvenant geformuleerd. Aan de hand van tussen- en eindmetingen wordt vastgesteld of doelstellingen worden behaald.Om uit de veelheid van gegevens van de Monitor de hoofdlijnen te kunnen destilleren zijn kengetallen ontwikkeld die inzicht geven in de omvang van een probleem in een sector en die geschikt zijn voor het stellen van doelen. In dit artikel worden de kengetallen voor werkstress en klachten van arm, nek of schouder besproken. Met deze kengetallen kunnen risicogroepen geïdentificeerd worden met verhoogde kans op uitval of beperkingen. Tevens zijn ze bruikbaar als prestatie-indicator voor het convenant.Prospectief onderzoek is gewenst om de ontwikkelde kengetallen te valideren om daarop betrouwbare voorspellingen te kunnen baseren over toekomstige gezondheidsproblemen, beperkingen in het werk en uitval.

Questionnaire surveys on health and working conditions: development of an instrument for risk assessment in companies

Abstract Periodic Occupational Health Surveys (POHS) are frequently used by occupational health and safety services in the Netherlands as a risk assessment instrument. These surveys include a questionnaire on work and health. Systematic attention is paid in this questionnaire to a broad range of working conditions and health complaints. In this article a method is presented to identify and evaluate work risks and health problems in groups of workers. Working conditions and health in any given company or department are assessed by comparing questionnaire data from its worker populations with data from one or more reference populations. Significant differences are interpreted as signals for both adverse working conditions and health problems. Considerations and choices with regard to the technical, operational and strategic quality of the method are elucidated. Probabilities of α- and β-errors, choice of significance levels, and selection of reference populations are dealt with. Finally, a way of presentation of the results is shown. The method is considered to be part of a broader approach toward risk assessment. We recommend the combined use of questionnaire results and other available information, such as workplace surveys and sickness absence data. Questionnaires about work and health can be seen as one step in a multi-phase design: like in many diagnostic processes, the latter phases can enhance the precision of previous results. Recommendations are made for validating and evaluating this instrument.

The atlas of health and working conditions by occupation

In this article, we describe methods which have been applied in the compilation of the Atlas of Health and Working Conditions by Occupation. First, we discuss the need for information systems to identify problems concerning working conditions and health. Such information systems have an exploratory purpose, being deployed to identify work risks in companies, groups of occupations and sectors of industry, and can also be a starting point for the generation of hypotheses on the causes of adverse health effects. In the Netherlands, occupational health services gather questionnaire data about work and health as part of periodical occupational health surveys. In the atlas, aggregated questionnaire data for 129 occupations with male employees and 19 occupations with female employees are presented. In this article, we explain the methodology used to compare occupations with regard to each item in the questionnaire. We then discuss applications of these occupational ranking lists. The cross-sectional nature of the data collection, various forms of selection and the limited size of some occupational populations have to be taken into account when interpreting the results. Occupational ranking lists can be applied in the allocation of resources and in the design of scientific research. The overviews for each occupation, presented in the second half of the atlas, provide an occupational profile of existing problems with respect to work and health. These profiles are used as basic information to develop a practical policy on working conditions and health.