Working conditions in the European meat processing industry

Eurofound — European Foundation For The Improvement Of Living And Working Conditions

Description

Working conditions
Health policy

Sujets

• Occupational safety and health

Informations

• Publié par: EUROFOUND-EUROPEAN-FOUNDATION-FOR-THE-IMPROVEMENT-OF-LIVING-AND-WORKING-CONDITIO
• Nombre de lectures: 8
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 3 Mo

Extrait

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European Foundation
for the Improvement of
Living and Working Conditions
I LÉ hL· J WORKING CONDITIONS
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■ Ί |H MEAT PROCESSING
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European Foundation
for the Improvement of
Living and Working Conditions
WORKING CONDITIONS
IN THE EUROPEAN
MEAT PROCESSING
INDUSTRY
EF/95/26/EN *Γ=Ί •
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European Foundation
for the Improvement of
Living and Working Conditions
WORKING CONDITIONS
life
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MEAT PROCESSING
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by
Sonja Nossent
Bert de Groot
Ria Verschuren
Netherlands Institute for the
Working Environment NIA, Amsterdam
Loughlinstown House, Shankill, Co. Dublin, Ireland
Tel: [phone] Fax: [phone] Cataloguing data can be found at the end of this publication
Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities
ISBN 92-827-5543-6
© European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, 1995
For rights of translation or reproduction, applications should be made to the Director,
European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions,
Loughlinstown House, Shankill, Co. Dublin, Ireland.
Printed in United Kingdom Preface
Monitoring working conditions - that is to say offering a better picture of working conditions - has
been recognized as a very important issue in Europe and in particular in the European Union in
the recent years.
A better understanding of what is actually taking place in the work place, of the problems
encountered, of the risks faced, of the populations facing these problems and these risks, of the
changes taking place and their extent, is necessary for policy makers to set up priorities and action
programmes, to identify gaps to legislation, and to measure progress made.
The increasing weight of the European dimension in the social field had to be matched with the
development of monitoring instruments at the Community level, a development which had, until
recently, been lagging behind.
The European Foundation has been actively contributing to it since 1987 as the monitoring of
working conditions became an important part of its work programme. Three levels of action were
developed.
At macro level, the First European Survey on working conditions was realized in 1991, the first
of its kind, with the aim to give every 5 years an overview of the work environment situation.
At the other end of the spectrum, a description of best practices and policies for the assessment of
working conditions at company level was finalized in 1995. The 1989 European Framework
Directive on occupational health and safety has given this issue a particular momentum by
requiring a systematic evaluation of risk situations in all companies.
At sectorial level, two studies were realized: the present one on the Meat Processing Industry, and
another one on the Hospital Sector, with a view of setting up a methodology to describe the
working conditions at branch level. Both sectors were chosen after consultation with both sides of
industry and with the Commission. A network of researchers from national occupational health
and safety organizations in ten EC Member States was set up.
The European sectorial level is an increasingly relevant level for the prevention of occupational
risks and the improvement of working conditions. Problems are often quite similar, although
health prevention policies and priorities can be somewhat different from one country to the other.
Action programmes and research are also carried out simultaneously in various countries and a lot
is to be gained by knowing what is done and how things are done elsewhere. Synergies could be
developed and possible duplications avoided.
One also has to keep in mind that European branch negotiation will probably increase in the near
future, which could be usefully supported by such research as the present one.
Clive Purkiss Eric verborgh
Director Deputy Director Vil
Contents Page
Preface ν
Summary ix
1 Introduction 1
1.1 Context of the study
1.2 Aim of the study and the report
1.3 Methodology 2
1.4 Structure of the report and remarks to the reader 4
Social economic background and country characteristics
of the Meat Processing Industry 5
2.1 Social economic context of the European Meat Processing Industry 5
2.2 Characteristics of the Meat Processing Industry in each country 12
Overview of the occupational health and safety situation in the
Meat Processing Industry across Europe 19
3.1 Health and safety output
3.2 Work environment 24
3.2.1 Physical work environment5
3.2.2 Organizational work environment 3
3.2.3 Social workt
3.3 Risk groups 43
3.4 Policies and instruments
3.4.1 Policies and instruments at company level 4
3.4.2s ands at sectorial level9
3.5 Discussion and conclusions 56
View of social partners, government and others 6
4.1 Overview and comparison of opinions of parties
4.2 Discussion and conclusions 74
Final conclusions7
5.1 General conclusions
5.2 Conclusions on the health and safety situation in the Meat Processing Industry 78
5.3 Policy options for further improvements 82 VIH
Contents Page
Annex 1 Participating institutes and authors of national reports 89
Annex 2 Members of the Advisory Committee on the project 91