Browse > Article
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.shaw.2021.07.002

The Impact of Adverse Employment and Working Conditions on the Risk of Workplace Injury in Canada  

Nadalin, Victoria (Institute for Work and Health)
Mustard, Cameron (Institute for Work and Health)
Smith, Peter M. (Institute for Work and Health)
Publication Information
Safety and Health at Work / v.12, no.4, 2021 , pp. 471-478 More about this Journal
Abstract
Background: Employment standards (ES) include having a regular payday, regular breaks, the right to paid sick or vacation time, and paid wages. Inadequate ES contribute to the labour market vulnerability of workers; however, they are not typically considered to be risk factors for workplace injury. In a sample of Canadian workers, we examine the risk of injury associated with inadequate ES, independent of, and combined with inadequate workplace protections from workplace hazards. Methods: Data from 2,803 adults working 15 hours or more/week in workplaces with at least five employees were analysed. We explored associations between exposure to workplace hazards with inadequate protections [termed occupational health and safety (OHS) vulnerability] and inadequate ES on workplace injury (physical or mental injury; injury requiring time off). Additive interaction models were used to examine the independent and combined effects of these exposures. Results: Occupational health and safety vulnerability and inadequate ES were independently associated with increased injury outcomes. Adjusted models showed an additive relationship for all injury outcomes between OHS vulnerability and inadequate ES. Statistically significant superadditive relationships were observed for physical injury risk with policy and procedure vulnerability plus inadequate ES [synergy index (S) 1.50, 95% CI: 1.13-2.00] and for overall OHS vulnerability plus inadequate ES (S 1.53, 95% CI: 1.16-2.02), suggesting a combined effect greater than independent effects. Conclusion: Occupational health and safety vulnerability and inadequate ES are independently associated with workplace injury. For certain injury outcomes, the combined effect of OHS vulnerability and inadequate ES is greater than the independent effects of each individual exposure.
Keywords
Employment standards; Occupational health; Occupational safety; Vulnerability; Work injury;
Citations & Related Records
연도 인용수 순위
  • Reference
1 Ontario Ministry of Labour. 5.1 legislative history of the ESA. Changing workplaces review e special advisors' interim report. Ontario: Ontario Ministry of Labour; 2016.
2 Smith PM, Saunders R, Lifshen M, Black O, Lay M, Breslin FC, LaMontagne AD, Tompa E. The development of a conceptual model and self-reported measure of occupational health and safety vulnerability. Accid Anal Prev 2015;82:234-43.   DOI
3 Vives A, Amable M, Ferrer M, Moncada S, Llorens C, Muntaner C, Benavides FG, Benach J. The Employment Precariousness Scale (EPRES): psychometric properties of a new tool for epidemiological studies among waged and salaried workers. Occup Environ Med 2010;67(8):548-55.   DOI
4 Harrell FE. Multivariable modeling strategies. Regression modeling strategies: with application to linear models, logistic regression, and survival analysis. New York: Springer; 2004. p. 53-85.
5 de Mutsert R, Jager KJ, Zoccali C, Dekker FW. The effect of joint exposures: examining the presence of interaction. Kidney Int 2009;75(7):677-81.   DOI
6 Premji S. "It's totally destroyed our life": exploring the pathways and mechanisms between precarious employment and health and well-being among immigrant men and women in Toronto. Int J Health Serv 2018;48(1):106-27.   DOI
7 Tucker P, Folkard S, Macdonald I. Rest breaks and accident risk. Lancet 2003;22(361).
8 Koranyi I, Jonsson J, Ronnblad T, Stockfelt L, Bodin T. Precarious employment and occupational accidents and injuries e a systematic review. Scand J Work Environ Health 2018;44(4):341-50.   DOI
9 Lay AM, Saunders R, Lifshen M, Breslin FC, LaMontagne AD, Tompa E, Smith PM. The relationship between occupational health and safety vulnerability and workplace injury. Saf Sci 2017;94:85-93.   DOI
10 Underhill E, Quinlan M. How precarious employment affects health and safety at work: the case of temporary agency workers. Relations Industrielles-Ind Relat 2011;66(3):397-421.   DOI
11 Lay AM, Saunders R, Lifshen M, Breslin FC, LaMontagne AD, Tompa E, Smith P. Individual, occupational, and workplace correlates of occupational health and safety vulnerability in a sample of Canadian workers. Am J Ind Med 2016;59(2):119-28.   DOI
12 Yanar B, Lay M, Smith PM. The interplay between supervisor safety support and occupational health and safety vulnerability on work injury. Saf Health Work 2019;10(2):172-9.   DOI
13 Andersson T, Alfredsson L, Kallberg H, Zdravkovic S, Ahlbom A. Calculating measures of biological interaction. Eur J Epidemiol 2005;20:575-9.   DOI
14 Williamson E, Morley R, Lucas A, Carpenter J. Propensity scores: from naive enthusiasm to intuitive understanding. Stat Methods Med Res 2011;21(3):273-93.   DOI
15 Smith P, Nadalin V. Measuring occupational health and safety in Alberta: project report; 2019.
16 Hawkins D, Zhu J. Decline in the rate of occupational injuries and illnesses following the implementation of a paid sick leave law in Connecticut. Am J Ind Med 2019;62(10):859-73.   DOI
17 Hallqvist T, Ahlbom A, Diderichsen F, Reuterwall C. How to evaluate interaction between causes: a review of practices in cardiovascular epidemiology. J Intern Med 1996;239(5):377-82.   DOI
18 Vedaa O, Harris A, Erevik EK, Waage S, Bjorvatn B, Sivertsen B, Moen BE, Pallesen S. Short rest between shifts (quick returns) and night work is associated with work-related accidents. Int Arch Occup Environ Health 2019;92(6):829-35.   DOI
19 Government of Canada. Guide to writing an OHS policy statement Ottawa. Ontario: Government of Canada. 2021. Available from: https://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/hsprograms/osh_policy.html.
20 Asfaw A, Pana-Cryan R, Rosa R. Paid sick leave and nonfatal occupational injuries. Am J Publ Health 2012;102(9):e59-64.   DOI
21 Tamers SL, Streit J, Pana-Cryan R, Ray T, Syron L, Flynn MA, et al. Envisioning the future of work to safeguard the safety, health, and well-being of the workforce: a perspective from the CDC's National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Am J Ind Med 2020;63(12):1065-84.   DOI
22 Fischer D, Lombardi DA, Folkard S, Willetts J, Christiani DC. Updating the "Risk Index": a systematic review and meta-analysis of occupational injuries and work schedule characteristics. Chronobiol Int 2017;34(10):1423-38.   DOI
23 Arlinghaus A, Lombardi DA, WIlletts JL, Folkard S, Christiani DC. A structural equation modeling approach to fatigue-related risk factors for occupational injury. Am J Epidemiol 2012;176(7):597-607.   DOI
24 Kim D. Paid sick leave and risks of all-cause and cause-specific mortality among adult workers in the USA. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2017;14(10).
25 Long-Term Care Staffing Study Advisory Group. Long-term care staffing study Toronto. Ontario: Government of Ontario. 2020. Available from: https://www.ontario.ca/page/long-term-care-staffing-study#section-5.
26 de la Fuente VS, Lopez MA, Gonzalez IF, Alcantara OJ, Ritzel DO. The impact of the economic crisis on occupational injuries. J Safety Res 2014;48:77-85.   DOI
27 Ontario Ministry of Labour. Your guide to the employment standards act. Queen's Printer for Ontario; 2019. 2012-19.
28 Stock S, Nicolakakis N, Raiq H, Messing K, Lippel K, Turcot A. Underreporting work absences for nontraumatic work-related musculoskeletal disorders to workers' compensation: results of a 2007e2008 survey of the quebec working population. Am J Publ Health 2014;104(3):e94-101.   DOI
29 Canadian Centre for Occupational Health. OHS posting requirements Hamilton. Ontario: Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety. 2021. Available from: https://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/legisl/posting.html.
30 Government of Canada. Federal labour standards. Ottawa: Government of Canada; 2019.