Work injuries of 13-17-year-old Icelanders: Causes and consequences.

Efst á síðunni er hægt að nálgast greinina í heild sinni með því að smella á hlekkinnSpurningalisti var lagður fyrir 2000 manna tilviljunarúrtak 13-17 ára ungmenna í Þjóðskrá 2008. Svarhlutfallið var 48,8%. Spurt var í lokaðri spurningu hvort ungmennin hefðu orðið fyrir vinnuslysi og um alvarleika slyssins í opinni spurningu um áverka og slysavalda. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Introduction: The aim of the research is to investigate work injuries among 13-17-year-old teenagers in Iceland, their causes and seriousness. Firstly, the prevalence of work injuries among the age-group is examined, as is the length of their absence from work, as well as the gender and age differences of both factors. Secondly, the type and the cause of the injuries are investigated. Thirdly, the most serious injuries and their causes are studied further. Material and methods: A survey was carried out amongst 2000 teenagers, aged 13-17, randomly selected from the Registers Iceland. The response rate was 48.4%. The teenagers were asked in a closed question about whether they had had an accident at work, and in an open one about the type and cause of the injury. A Chi-square test was used to test statistical significance: 95% confidence interval (CI). Results: A fifth of the young people had had an accident at work, one quarter of the injured workers were absent from work because of the injury of which 5.9% for more than a week. The percentage of injured workers increases with age and has reached 30,7% among the 17-year-olds. Cuts and sprains were the most common injuries, whereas back injuries and bone fractures caused the longest absences. Sharp instruments were the most common cause of an injury, but lifting/carrying a (heavy) object as well as a fall of an object caused the longest absences. Conclusion: The prevalence of young workers' injuries and the seriousness of some of these injuries are of concern. In addition to education on occupational health and safety (OHS) and OHS training, future research must analyse if their labour market position threaten the young people's safety, and if it is the case, how to prevent it

Sjálfboðastarf í Brothættum byggðum

Dreifbýli Íslands er vinsæll viðkomustaður erlendra sjálfboðaliða sem gegna fjölbreyttum störfum í stað fæðis og húsnæðis. Aðilar sem ráða til sín sjálfboðaliða eru sakaðir um brot á kjarasamn- ingum og launaþjófnað, vinni sjálfboðaliðar í efnahgslegri starfsemi og á lögbýlum. Markmið greinarinnar er að svara spurningunni: Efla sjálfboða- störf, unnin af erlendum eða innlendum sjálfboðaliðum, byggðarlög sem tóku þátt í verkefninu Brothættar byggðir eða taka þau störf frá fólki sem vildi búa þar ef atvinnutækifæri væru fyrir hendi? Gagna var aflað í fjórum byggðum sem tóku þátt í verkefninu Brothættar byggðir. Haustið 2022 og vorið 2023 voru tekin viðtöl við um 30 einstaklinga. Jafnframt voru auglýsingar greindar, þar sem óskað er eftir sjálfboðaliðum. Viðmælendur sammæltust um þá meginreglu að virða kjarasamninga og að sjálfboða- liðar gengju hvorki í störf fagfólks né skekktu samkeppni á vinnumarkaði. Skipti þá engu hvort þeir væru innlendir eða erlendir. Samhengi sjálfboða- starfanna þótti þó mikilvægt og sjálfsagt að víkja frá meginreglum um kjarasamninga, samkeppni og fagþekkingu ef störfin væru samfélaginu til hagsbóta og yrðu ekki framkvæmd án aðkomu sjálfboðaliða. Viðmæl- endur höfnuðu því að erlendir sjálfboðaliðar tækju launuð störf frá heima- fólki. Þeir töldu að sjálfboðastörfin væru byggðarlögunum mikilvæg og í raun forsenda og lífæð hvers samfélag.Rural Iceland is popular among foreign volunteers, who perform a variety of jobs in exchange for food and housing. Those who recruit volunteers are accused of breaching collective agreements and wage theft when volunteers work in economic activities or on farms. The article aims to answer the question: Promote voluntary work done by for- eign or domestic volunteers, localities that participated in the project “Fra- gile Communities” or do they take jobs from people who would want to live there if there were job opportunities? Data was collected in four areas included in the project “Fragile Communities”. During the fall of 2022 and spring of 2023, about 30 people were interviewed, and advertisements for volunteers were analysed. The interviewees agreed on respecting the labour market rules, independent of whether the volunteers were domes- tic or foreign. The context of voluntary work was seen as necessary and acceptable to disrespect principles of collective agreements, competition, and professional knowledge if it would benefit society. The idea of foreign volunteers taking paid jobs from local people was rejected. The intervie- wees agreed that voluntary work is vital to rural areas and a prerequisite for the communities.Peer reviewe

The eye of technology and the well being of women and men in Icelandic work places

Hægt er að lesa greinina í heild sinni með því að smella á hlekkinn View/OpenINTRODUCTION: The study assessed the association between working under surveillance and electronic performance monitoring and the well-being among women and men in six Icelandic workplaces. METHODS: In the time period from February to April 2003, a questionnaire based on the General Nordic Questionnaire for Psychological and Social Factors at Work was delivered to 1369 employees in six companies where different methods of electronic performance monitoring (EPM) are used. The data was analyzed using odds ratio and logistical regression. RESULTS: The response rate was 72%, with close to equal participation of men and women. The employees who were working under EPM were more likely to have poor psychosocial work-environment, to have experienced significant stress recently, to be mentally exhausted at the end of the workday, to have significant sleep difficulties and to be dissatisfied in their job. CONCLUSION: The development of the information and communication technology that allows employers and managers to monitor and collect different electronic data about the work process and productivity of the workers makes it important to follow the health condition of those who work under electronic performance monitoring

Work strain and well being among different groups of female personnel in geriatric care

Neðst á síðunni er hægt að nálgast greinina í heild sinni með því að smella á hlekkinn View/OpenObjective: To study possible inequalities in work strain and well-being among women working in geriatric care and to find out if some groups might need special public health measures. Material and methods: In this cross-sectional questionnaire reaching throughout Iceland, the participants were employees in 62 geriatric nursing homes and geriatric hospital wards with 10 or more employees. A total of 1886 questionnaires were distributed. The 84-item questionnaire included questions on demographic and work-related factors, health and life style. Age-adjusted odds ratios (OR) were calculated and confidence intervals were set at 95% (95% CI). Registered nurses were taken as a reference category. Results: The response rate was 80%. Registered nurses accounted for 16%, practical nurses 21%, unskilled attendants 44%, cleaning personnel 8% and others 12% of the total group. Men were 4.5% of the group. The practical nurses, unskilled attendants and cleaning personnel assessed work as more physically difficult, and more monotonous both physically and mentally, than did the registered nurses, who enjoyed somewhat more physical and mental well-being than the others. Little difference was found as to visits to doctors. Conclusions: Various personnel groups of women in geriatric care have different physical and psychosocial workload that is reflected in their well being. The results provide opportunities to guide public health measures for people employed in geriatric care

Bullying, work organization and employee well-being

Neðst á síðunni er hægt að nálgast greinina í heild sinni með því að smella á hlekkinn View/OpenIntroduction: The study assessed the association between well-being, work-environment and employees? health among the personnel in savings- and other banks? branches with reference to whether they had been exposed to bullying at work. Methods: A questionnaire based on the General Nordic Questionnaire for Psychological and Social Factors at Work was sent to all employees (N=1847) in the spring of 2002. The data was analyzed using the SPSS statistical package. Results: The response rate was 80% with 1475 employees returning the questionnaire. Women were 86% (n=1192) of the responders. About 15% of the employees (n=209) had experienced some form of harassment in connection with work. The majority of those had experienced bullying (8% (n=110)). The victims of bullying were more likely to have poor psychosocial work-environment and were less likely to have experienced a positive relationship with supervisors and other staff. There was only minimal association between bullying and seeking medical attention for a selected number of medical conditions. The victims of bullying were more likely to have experienced significant stress recently (p=0.025), to be mentally exhausted at the end of the workday (p=0.013), to have significant sleep difficulties (p=0.001), and poor mental health (p<0.0001), and to be dissatisfied in their job (p<0.0001). Conclusion: In the light of the association between work organization and bullying it is of importance that supervisors and employers are well versified in communication skills as pertains to staff relations and recognizing psychosocial risk factors in the employees' work environment. As victims of bullying are more dissatisfied with their work than others, it is likely that if they become sick and link their illness to the workplace, that they will quit their job. In light of this it is of importance to study the experience of bullying among those receiving benefits due to long-term sickness absence or disability.Tilgangur rannsóknarinnar var að kanna líðan, vinnu­umhverfi og heilsufar starfsmanna í útibúum banka og sparisjóða með hliðsjón af því hvort þeir hefðu orð­ið fyrir einelti í starfi. Efniviður og aðferðir: Spurningalisti sem byggist á Norræna spurningalistanum um sálfélagslega þætti í vinnu (General Nordic Questionnaire for Psychologi­cal and Social Factors at Work) var lagður fyrir alla starfsmenn vorið 2002, samtals 1847 manns. Útreikningarnir voru gerðir með SPSS tölfræðiforritinu. Niðurstöður: Alls svöruðu 1475 starfsmenn spurninga­listanum, svarhlutfallið var 80%. Konur voru 86% (n=1192) svarenda. Um 15% starfsmanna (n=209) höfðu orðið fyrir ýmiss konar áreitni í starfi, meiri hluti þeirra, 8% (n=110), hafði orðið fyrir einelti. Þolendur eineltis voru líklegri en aðrir til að búa við slæmt sálfélagslegt vinnufyrirkomulag og höfðu síður upplifað jákvætt samband á milli starfsmanna og stjórnenda. Lítil tengsl voru á milli eineltis og þess að hafa leitað læknis vegna tiltekinna heilsufarsþátta. Þolendur voru líklegri en aðrir til að hafa fundið fyrir mikilli streitu nýlega (p=0,025), vera andlega úrvinda eftir vinnudaginn (p=0,013), hafa oft átt við svefnvandamál að stríða (p=0,001), búa við slæma andleg heilsu (p<0,0001) og vera óánægðir í starfi (p<0,0001). Ályktun: Vegna tengsla sem í ljós komu á milli vinnu­fyrirkomulags og eineltis er mikilvægt að stjórnendur kunni vel til samskipta og þekki áhættuþætti í sálfélagslegu vinnuumhverfi starfsmanna. Þar sem þolendur eineltis eru ósáttari með starf sitt en aðrir má ætla að þeir hætti frekar störfum ef þeir veikjast og tengi veikindin vinnu sinni. Því er mikilvægt rannsóknarefni að skoða algengi eineltis á meðal þeirra sem þiggja bætur hjá Tryggingastofnun ríkisins

Lay-offs hurt the well-being even of those who keep their jobs

This is due to higher workloads, guilt at seeing colleagues leave and fear for the future, write a team of Iceland researcher

Kolbrún S. Ingólfsdóttir: Merkiskonur sögunnar

Í umsögn gagnrýnanda kemur meðal annars eftirfarandi fram: Þrátt fyrir einhverja annmarka og þá skoðun mína að vinna hefði mátt handritið betur er útkoma bókarinnar gleðiefni, ekki síst fyrir yngri kynslóðir kvenna sem brýnt er að sæki sjálfsmynd sína í sterkar konur. Er það von mín og trú að sú forvitni sem bókin kann að vekja muni hvetja til frekari rannsókna á sögunni sem varpað gætu enn skýrara ljósi á lífshlaup merkiskvennanna en hér er gert

Merkiskonur sögunnar

BókardómurÍ umsögn gagnrýnanda kemur meðal annars eftirfarandi fram: "Þrátt fyrir einhverja annmarka og þá skoðun mína að vinna hefði mátt handritið betur er útkoma bókarinnar gleðiefni, ekki síst fyrir yngri kynslóðir kvenna sem brýnt er að sæki sjálfsmynd sína í sterkar konur. Er það von mín og trú að sú forvitni sem bókin kann að vekja muni hvetja til frekari rannsókna á sögunni sem varpað gætu enn skýrara ljósi á lífshlaup merkiskvennanna en hér er gert.

Illt er að selja sál fyrir auð : um vinnuskipulag og líðan starfsmanna

Neðst á síðunni er hægt að nálgast greinina í heild sinni með því að smella á hlekkinn Skoða/Opna(view/open)Í rannsókninni sem hér er kynnt voru áhrif vinnuskipulags á líðan og stöðu starfsfólks í fiskvinnslu skoðuð1. Spurningalistar með 45 spurningum voru lagðir fyrir starfsmenn í 19 bolfiskvinnsluhúsum árið 1998 og var tæknistigi fiskvinnsluhúsanna og þar með vinnuskipulagi þeirra skipt í þrjú stig. Auk þessa voru viðtöl tekin við starfsmenn og stjórnendur og staðarathuganir gerðar í allmörgum fiskvinnsluhúsum. Hófundur heimsótti öll fyrirtækin og kynnti fyrirhugaða rannsókn og spurningalistann. Alls 815 starfsmenn fengu afhenta spurningalista. Af þeim skiluðu rúmlega 54% starfsmanna listunum til baka. Svarhlutfallið endurspeglar hlutfall kvenna og karla sem starfa í fiskvinnslu og hlutfall starfsfólks í mismunandi tegundum fyrirtækja. Svörunin var lægst í fiskvinnsluhúsum þar sem stór hluti starfsmanna voru útlendingar, jafnvel þótt spurningalistinn hafi verið þýddur á pólsku. Alls voru um 59% heimtur á íslenska spurningalistanum en einungis 26% á þeim pólska