Researchers recently examined the association between precarious employment and risk of occupational injury or illness. In not unsurprising results, they found that precarious employment did in fact increase the risk of injury or illness.
The researchers, from in Ontario, Canada, combined accepted lost-time compensation claims from the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board with labour force statistics to estimate injury and illness rates between January 2016 and December 2019. They determined precarious employment using a job exposure matrix in terms of temporary employment, low wages, irregular hours, involuntary part-time employment and a measure of ‘low’, ‘medium’, ‘high’ and ‘very high’ probabilities of exposure to precarious employment.
After adjusting for age, sex and year, all indicators of precarious employment were associated with increased risk of injury or illness. Workers with ‘high’ and ‘very’ high’ exposure to precarious employment were at almost 300 per cent risk of injury or illness.
The researchers concluded that workers exposed to precarious employment are more likely to sustain a lost-time injury or illness. Workplace health and safety strategies should consider the role of precarious employment as an occupational hazard and a marker of work injury risk
Source: Shahidi FV, Liao Q, Landsman V, et al. Is precarious employment an occupational hazard? Evidence from Ontario, Canada Occupational and Environmental Medicine Published Online First: 02 August 2024. doi: 10.1136/oemed-2024-109535