The association between nonstandard work and occupational injury in Korea

Abstract

The reason why the risks of nonstandard workers are higher than those of regular workers is that nonstandard workers are placed in poor working conditions.

Who is working while sick? Nonstandard employment and its association with absenteeism and presenteeism in South Korea

“…Previous studies found that nonstandard workers are more likely to work under hazardous condition and less likely to exercise their rights at work (Im et al 2012;Kim et al 2008b). In addition, "Labor Standard Act" does not specify worker's right to use sick leave in South Korea.…”

“…Compared to parent firm-permanent employment, which has been often regarded as a standard employment, absenteeism was not associated or negatively associated with all nonstandard A growing body of evidence suggests that nonstandard employment may harm workers' health and safety because nonstandard workers often have job insecurity, lower income, and hazardous working conditions (Benach et al 2007). Epidemiologic studies have reported that nonstandard employment may aggravate a variety of workers' health outcomes, including occupational injury (Im et al 2012), cardiovascular disorder (Lewchuk et al 2003, musculoskeletal pain (Kim et al 2008a), and depressive symptoms (Kim et al 2012(Kim et al , 2013Virtanen et al 2008).…”

Long Working Hours and Shift Work as Risk Factors for Occupational Injury

“…In South Korea, people working over 60 hours per week had almost four times (OR = 3.94, 95% CI 3.04-5.09) more often occupational injuries than those working under 46 hours per week (n=1,576 injured workers) [70]. Based on the Occupational Safety and Health Survey in 2004 (n=65,921), it was found that people working 44-54 hours per week were one and half times (OR = 1.6, 95% CI 1.5-1.8) more often involved in occupational injuries and those working more than 54 hours had three times (OR = 3.0, 95% CI 2.7-3.4) more injuries than those working less than 44 hours per week [71].…”

Work accident victims: a comparison between non-standard and standard workers in Belgium

“…Studies in India, Korea, and Italy found that non-standard temporary workers were more likely to be injured compared to standard workers. 5,27,28 However, contradictory results were reported in studies from Finland and Spain.…”

“…2−4 Furthermore, working long hours and job insecurity are also associated with increased incidence of occupational injuries. 5,6 Results from a cohort study of manufacturing workers found that workers with health problems, such as chronic heart disease, diabetes, and depression have a higher rate of acute occupational injuries than workers without coexisting conditions. 7 Lower Work Ability Index scores (a proxy for poor work ability) are also positively associated with work injuries.…”