Delegation and consultation on operational and tactical issues: Any difference in their potentialities for a healthier psychosocial work environment?

Abstract

Background: Despite the growing number of studies on direct participation labormanagement practices, little is known about the role of their different discretionary degrees (delegation or consultation) and topics in their relationship with the psychosocial work environment by occupational groups.Methods: Cross-sectional study on the relationship between direct participation and work-related psychosocial risks (using COPSOQ-ISTAS21 v3) on a representative sample of the salaried and wage-earning employees in Spain (n = 1807). Prevalence ratios were calculated using adjusted Poisson regression models, controlling for 10 other labormanagement practices, sex, and age, and stratified by occupational group.Results: The use of direct participation was either associated consistently with a healthier psychosocial work environment (mostly in manual occupations, which presented twice as many positive associations as nonmanual occupations, and of greater strength, mostly in the control and social support dimensions) or there were no significant associations (mostly among nonmanual occupations and in relation to work pace). More frequent and stronger associations were observed when consultation and delegation were used in combination. If used separately, consultation achieved better results among manual occupations and delegation among nonmanual occupations. Direct participation topics were not important for results in manual occupations whereas results were better on tactical (vs. operational) issues in nonmanual occupations.Conclusions: Direct participation does not change power structure, but it may be a useful intervention at the company level to reduce work-related psychosocial exposures and associated diseases among workers in manual occupations, and consequently for decreasing occupational exposures and health inequalities.

A multivariate approach towards the measurement of active employee participation in the area of occupational health and safety in different sectors of the economy

“…In this paper, we have proposed a synthetic measure of active employee participation in OHS constructed on the basis of an original model which was created based on an extensive literature review and which is consistent with the guidelines of international law and the standards of ISO 45001/OHSAS 18001. Our model classifies OHS participation levels in an orderly manner in accordance with the guidelines of participation theory (Dundon et al, 2022;Ben Rehouma, 2020;Child, 2021;Llorens-Serrano et al, 2022;Wilkinson et al, 2010). The results of our research can be treated as an extension complementing Masso's (2015) research, who also defined three levels of participation, i.e.…”

“…Employee participation can be defined as any process in the workplace that allows employees to exert some influence on their work and the conditions in which they work (Ghani & Malik, 2022;De Reuver et al, 2021;Markey & Hodgkinson, 2003). Participation has a large variety of forms and meanings including: employee participation (Hosseini & Sabokro, 2022;Dibben et al, 2022;Dundon et al, 2022;Llorens-Serrano et al, 2022;De Reuver et al, 2021;Sirianni, 1987), self-management (Llorens-Serrano et al, 2022;Appelbaum et al, 2001), codetermination (Breitling & Scholl, 2022;Vitols, 2021), and employees' voice (Hosseini & Sabokro, 2022;Dibben et al, 2022;Ghani & Malik, 2022;Child, 2021;Kim & Leach, 2020;Song et al, 2018;Dundon et al, 2004).…”

“…The effectiveness of employees' participation and their impact on the quality of working conditions can be analysed in two dimensions: the scope and depth of participation (Dundon et al, 2022;Llorens-Serrano et al, 2022;Ben Rehouma, 2020). The depth of participation is the degree of influence that employees and/or their representatives are allowed, treated as a continuum, from a ‛lack of commitment' through ‛receiving information', ‛joint consultation', and ‛joint decision-making' (Ben Rehouma, 2020;Child, 2021;Markey et al, 2014;Blyton & Turnbull, 2004), to even sharing power with employees -empowerment (Cierniak-Emerych & Piwowar-Sulej, 2017).…”

“…We also distinguish forms of direct and indirect participation (Dibben et al, 2022;Llorens-Serrano et al, 2022;Child, 2021;Ben Rehouma, 2020;Baran & Sypniewska, 2020;Kandathil & Joseph, 2019). A direct form of participation is the participation of front-line employees, taking the floor and making decisions (Grieco & Bripi, 2022;Nawakitphaitoon & Zhang, 2021;Dibben et al, 2022;Appelbaum et al, 2001), also through actions in informal, short-lived groups or formalised, autonomous work teams (Grieco & Bripi, 2022;Ben Rehouma, 2020;Marchington, 2009;Markey & Hodgkinson, 2003), in quality circles, as well as in individual consultations with employees, direct (face to face consultation) or indirect (arm's length consultation).…”

“…This kind of employee participation is, therefore, distanced from the idea of empowerment (Manzoor et al, 2019;Cierniak-Emerych & Piwowar-Sulej, 2017). The literature review conducted has proven the positive impact of direct participation (Llorens-Serrano et al, 2022) on improving health protection in the workplace.…”