Exploring Blue- and White-Collar Employees' Well-Being at Work System

The aim of this study was to examine occupational group-related differences in well-being at work (WBW) indicators ranging from real accidents, absences and retirement to experienced pleasure at work. Occupational group included two categories: blue- and white-collar employees. The study is based on analysing national statistics or ones of various industrial sectors (Study 1), or bases on findings of questionnaires in Finnish case companies (N=7) (Studies 2 and 3). WBW questionnaires answered by 3500 employees. Analysis utilised data that employees of two occupational groups, or company and national statistics revealed about WBW. Analysis was based on factors related to employee, task, tool, organisation and work environment (traditional work system (WS)), psychosocial factors, and information and communication within WS. The biggest and statistically significant differences were emphasised in results and discussion. Although two groups' roles and tasks provide reasons for many differences, the ones should be measured, thoroughly discussed and consciously managed.

Future Skills of Flight Attendants in Times of COVID-19-Related Job Uncertainty—The Case of Germany

“Future skills” increase employees’ prospects in the labor market, particularly in dynamic times, such as the current COVID-19 pandemic. (Not only) in Germany, flight attendants represent an occupational group without state-recognized vocational occupation who are particularly affected by the pandemic due to serious and long-lasting declines in air transport volumes. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that the future skills of flight attendants play an important role when applying for jobs in other industries. An empirical survey (n = 273) from April 2021 indicates that German-speaking flight attendants possess some of the future skills most frequently identified in key studies on future competencies, as well as extensive language skills, but have deficits in “working with computer systems” and “programming”. Pro-active training of employees in future skills, especially in crisis-prone professions, could facilitate future transitions into new professional fields.

Polish Pharmacy Students’ Readiness, Qualifications, Competences, Relevance, Motivation and Effectiveness to Promote Health in Community Pharmacies

Background: One of the parts of the broadly understood pharmaceutical care is health promotion. Therefore, the study aimed to find out how pharmacy students in Poland assess their own readiness to promote health in pharmacies and their own qualifications, competences, relevance, motivation and effectiveness of health promotion in pharmacies. Methods: The study conducted in 2019 comprised 206 pharmacy students from Poland. The authors’ survey questionnaire had two parts: Readiness to promote health in pharmacies; and Qualifications, competences, relevance, motivation and effectiveness of health promotion in pharmacies. Results: The students assessed the system solutions regarding health promotion as insufficient. The highest assessment was given to their own readiness to promote health. In between those was assessment of readiness to promote health by pharmacists as an occupational group. Readiness to promote health at a workplace in a pharmacy was assessed higher than in a local community. The students gave the highest assessments to the relevance and motivation to promote health, and the lowest to their own competences to promote health. In between those, their qualifications and effectiveness to health promotion in pharmacies. were assessed. Conclusions: Pharmacy students consider themselves ready and motivated to promote health, that is of a great importance in their opinion, and they could potentially play an important role in improving the health care of patients.

Health Utility and Its Risk Factors in University Staff in China: A Cross-Sectional Survey from an Occupational Health Perspective

Backgrounds: The health of university staff is a major occupational health concern worldwide. Studies have reported low health-related quality of life (HRQOL), low job satisfaction and poor mental health in this occupational group. However, none of previous studies have measured health utility and compared it to a national norm. Therefore, this study was conducted to gain a deeper understanding of the HRQOL of university staff in China and to identify risk factors influential to their health. Methods: This was a cross-sectional survey conducted in a public university in China. Participants were interviewed face-to-face for demographic and socioeconomic information and health conditions. The Chinese version of the EQ-5D-5L instrument was used to measure HRQOL for calculating health utility. The relationship between health utility and sample characteristics was first examined using t-test and correlation analysis. Multivariate generalized linear models were further applied to evaluate the significance of these associations while adjusting for other variables. Results: The sample (n=154) had a mean age of 40.65 years and slightly more females (51.30%). The overall prevalence of diseases or symptoms was 81.17%. Participants attained the means (SDs) of 0.945 (0.073) and 83.00 (11.32) for the health utility and visual analogue scale respectively. The most affected domain was the anxiety/depression with 40.26% of participants reporting problems and 37.66% of the sample reported problems in the pain/discomfort domain. There were less than 5% participants reported problems in the mobility, self-care or daily activity domains individually. Multivariate models revealed that psychological/emotional conditions were associated with the largest utility loss of -0.067 (95%CI: -0.089, -0.045) followed by having a Master’s degree or higher (-0.048, 95%CI: -0.09, -0.005) and pain in body parts other than head, neck and back (-0.034, 95%CI: -0.055, -0.014).Conclusions: University staff in China may have worse HRQOL than the general population, which manifested mainly with the pain/discomfort and anxiety/depression domains. The significant factors for utility loss were having a Master’s degree or higher, psychological conditions and pain in body parts other than the head, neck and back. Targeted health promotion policies and programs should be created to benefit this occupational group and society overall.

Occupational risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection and reinfection during the second pandemic surge: a cohort study

ObjectivesThis cohort study including essential workers, assessed the risk and incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection during the second surge of COVID-19 according to baseline serostatus and occupational sector.MethodsEssential workers were selected from a seroprevalence survey cohort in Geneva, Switzerland and were linked to a state centralised registry compiling SARS-CoV-2 infections. Primary outcome was the incidence of virologically confirmed infections from serological assessment (between May and September 2020) to 25 January 2021, according to baseline antibody status and stratified by three predefined occupational groups (occupations requiring sustained physical proximity, involving brief regular contact or others).Results10 457 essential workers were included (occupations requiring sustained physical proximity accounted for 3057 individuals, those involving regular brief contact, 3645 and 3755 workers were classified under ‘Other essential occupations’). After a follow-up period of over 27 weeks, 5 (0.6%) seropositive and 830 (8.5%) seronegative individuals had a positive SARS-CoV-2 test, with an incidence rate of 0.2 (95% CI 0.1 to 0.6) and 3.2 (95% CI 2.9 to 3.4) cases per person-week, respectively. Incidences were similar across occupational groups. Seropositive essential workers had a 93% reduction in the hazard (HR of 0.07, 95% CI 0.03 to 0.17) of having a positive test during the follow-up with no significant between-occupational group difference.ConclusionsA 10-fold reduction in the hazard of being virologically tested positive was observed among anti-SARS-CoV-2 seropositive essential workers regardless of their sector of occupation, confirming the seroprotective effect of a previous SARS-CoV2 exposure at least 6 months after infection.

Occupational Differences in Metabolic Syndrome Incidence Among Older Workers

This study investigates whether the incidence of metabolic syndrome (MetS), and its components, differs by occupational group among older workers (45-65 years) and whether health behaviors (smoking, leisure-time physical activity, diet quality) can explain these differences. We analyzed data from older workers (N=23 051) from two comprehensive measurement waves of the Lifelines Cohort Study and Biobank. MetS components were determined by physical measurements, blood markers, medication use, and self-reports. Occupational group and health behaviors were assessed by questionnaires. The association between occupational groups and MetS incidence was examined using Cox regression analysis. Health behaviors were subsequently added to the model to examine whether they can explain differences in MetS incidence between occupational groups. Low skilled white-collar (HR: 1.25, 95% CI: 1.13, 1.39) and low skilled blue-collar (HR: 1.45, 95% CI: 1.25, 1.69) workers had a significantly higher MetS incidence risk during 3.65 years follow-up than high skilled white-collar workers. Health behaviors reduced the strength of the association between occupational group and MetS incidence most among low skilled blue-collar workers (i.e. 10.3% reduction) as unhealthy behaviors were more prevalent in this occupational group. Similar occupational differences were observed on MetS component level. To conclude, MetS incidence in older workers differs between occupational groups and health behaviors only explain a small part of these differences. Health promotion tailored to occupational groups may be beneficial specifically among older low skilled blue-collar workers. Research into other factors that contribute to occupational differences is needed, as well as studies spanning the entire working life course.

Identification of occupations susceptible to high exposure and risk associated with multiple toxicants in an observational study: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999-2014

Background: According to the World Health Organization, occupational exposures to hazardous chemicals are estimated to cause over 370,000 premature annual deaths. The risks due to multiple workplace chemical exposures, and those occupations most susceptible to the resulting health effects, remain poorly characterized. Objectives: The aim of this study is to identify occupations with elevated toxicant biomarker concentrations and increased health risk associated with toxicant exposures in a working US population from diverse categories of occupation. More specifically, we aim to 1) define differences in chemical exposures based on occupation description, 2) identify occupational groups with similar chemical exposure profiles, and 3) identify occupational groups with chemical biomarker levels exceeding acceptable health-based biomarker levels. Methods: For this observational study of 51,008 participants, we used data from the 1999-2014 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. We characterized differences in chemical exposures by occupational group for 129 chemicals by applying a series of generalized linear models with the outcome as biomarker concentrations and the main predictor as the occupational groups, adjusting for age, sex, race/ethnicity, poverty income ratio, study period, and biomarker of tobacco use. We identified groups of occupations with similar chemical exposure profiles via hierarchical clustering. For each occupational group, we calculated percentages of participants with chemical biomarker levels exceeding acceptable health-based guidelines. Results: Blue collar workers from "Construction", "Professional, Scientific, Technical Services", "Real Estate, Rental, Leasing", "Manufacturing", and "Wholesale Trade" have higher biomarker levels of toxic chemicals such as several heavy metals, acrylamide, glycideamide, and several volatile organic compounds compared to their white-collar counterparts. For these toxicants, 1-58% of blue-collar workers from these industries have toxicant concentrations exceeding acceptable levels. Discussion: Blue collar workers have toxicant levels higher relative to their white-collar counterparts, often exceeding acceptable levels associated with noncancer effects. Our findings identify multiple occupations to prioritize for targeted interventions and health policies to monitor and reduce high toxicant exposures.

COVID-19’s impact on neglected pharmaceutical staff: wake-up call for needed research

Discussion of the necessity of the compulsory vaccination of UK patient-facing care workers as an employment conditionality has deflected from the initial and ongoing impact of Coronavirus disease on relatively neglected occupational groups themselves, including community pharmacists. This commentary highlights the relative lack of research investigating the mental health and wellbeing impact of the pandemic on this occupational group in England and urges further study of their needs and experiences to inform evidence-based supportive psychological interventions.

“It’s about Living Like Everyone Else”: Dichotomies of Housing Support in Swedish Mental Health Care

The deinstitutionalization of psychiatric care has not only altered the living conditions for people with severe mental illness but has also greatly affected social services staff. In the Mental Health Act launched by the Swedish government in 1995, a new kind of service called ‘housing support’ and a new occupational group, ‘housing support workers,’ was introduced. However, housing support does not currently operate under any specific guidelines regarding the content of the service. This study explores housing support at local level in various municipalities of one Swedish county. The data is based on discussion with three focus groups: care managers, managers for home and community‐based support, and housing supporter workers. The perspective of institutional logics as a specific set of frames that creates a standard for what should or could be done, or alternately what cannot be questioned, is applied to analyze the constructed meaning of housing support. The meaning of housing support is constructed through three dichotomies: process and product, independence and dependence, and flexibility and structure. These dichotomies can be understood as dilemmas inherent in the work and organizing of housing support. With no clear guidelines, the levels of organizational and professional discretion create a space for local flexibility but may also contribute to tremendous differences in defining and implementing housing support. We discuss the potential consequences for housing support users implied by the identified discrepancies.