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| SPECIAL ISSUE |
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| High rates of MSD among supermarket workers |
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| [ Written by Sabrina Patota – Italica] - The Italian union for workers in Commerce, Hotel and Services carried out, for the first time in Italy in this sector, a survey on health and safety among workers in retail chains in the Italian region of Marche. The report, drawn up with the support of Ispel the national agency for health and safety and Ires Marche, a local institute affiliated to the general confederation of Italian workers (CGIL), finds high rates of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSD). Backache is the most common illness (44.7%) followed by headaches (30.8%), articular diseases (25.3%) and anxiety (in particular for women), the latter symptom may reflect the psychological stress of working with customers, inspecially with irregular work shifts. Repetitive work is a feature of occupations within the sector, workers however have little awareness of the risk: for example the survey shows that the working environment is perceived as good by most workers in terms of ventilation, lighting, noise, dust, smoke, vapours and gas, electromagnetic fields and biological factors such as viruses and bacteria. A positive rating of the latter two factors may seem surprising considering that supermarkets’ staff have direct contact with customers, and are surrounded by electric and electronic machinery. This seems to be partly due to their work status, as many of the employees are young women, with low tenure, they have only been in their jobs for a short period, with non-standard work contracts and poor identification with their job. All these reinforced by high rates of monotony and repetitive strain. However, even if work-related musculoskeletal disorders have consequences in terms of work efficiency and health, there are no official figures on their economic impact. (The report in available on line: Workers’ health and safety in retail chains. In Italian; 1.13 Mb PDF). [November 15, 2007 – Italica] |
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ART EXHIBITIONS
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ART GALLERIES
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