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Health and Safety Risk from Job

Workers were asked “Do you think your health or safety is at risk because of your work or not?” As shown in the chart below, on average, 29 percent or workers feel that their health and safety is at risk because of their work. There is large variation across countries, ranging from a low of 5.5 percent in Sweden to a high of 49.2 percent in Greece. 

Workers in southern Europe (Greece, Portugal, and Spain) are most likely to feel their health or safety is at risk due to their jobs. In Canada, almost one third of workers (32 percent) feel that their health or safety is at risk due to their jobs, slightly above the 17-country average of 29 percent. Workers in Canada are more likely to perceive health risks associated with their jobs than workers in the U.S. and parts of Europe, in particular workers in northern Europe. 
 

Almost One Third of Workers in Canada Feel That 
Their Health or Safety is at Risk Due to Their Jobs
Data for Europe from the Third European Study on Working Conditions 2000 (ESWC). Data for Canada and the U.S. from Ekos Rethinking North American Integration Survey (ERNAIS), 2002.
 

It is noteworthy that workers in Sweden report the lowest perceived health risk from their jobs in all 17 countries (5.5 percent), but have the fourth highest proportion of workers reporting working continuously at a high speed (See Working at a High Speed Indicator). This suggests a commitment to minimizing health and safety hazards by the employers, workers, and government in that country.
 

By Employment Status, Gender, and Age


Percentage of workers who feel their health or safety is at risk from their job, by Country, Employee Status, Gender, and Age
 
Total
Employee Status
Gender
Age
 
 
Self-employed
Paid Employees
men
women
< 25 Years
25-44 Years
45-64 Years
Greece
49.2
56.5
43.7
55.3
38.6
32.3
47.0
56.1
Portugal
44.6
52.3
42.5
47.7
40.9
31.9
44.5
49.1
Spain
41.8
42.0
41.7
48.2
29.9
49.7
39.4
42.3
Canada
31.7
26.9
32.9
34.8
28.3
30.1
34.0
29.0
Luxembourg
30.6
40.1
29.3
34.9
23.6
25.4
31.1
32.4
France
30.2
33.7
29.7
33.5
26.0
20.8
31.4
30.5
USA
28.4
28.5
28.4
29.9
26.8
29.3
29.7
28.3
Italy
27.8
26.5
28.3
30.8
22.6
23.9
27.3
30.5
Belgium
27.2
31.1
26.3
28.3
25.6
20.8
26.8
29.7
UK
25.5
26.7
25.2
31.0
18.8
17.8
27.9
25.4
Germany
25.0
17.3
26.6
28.0
21.0
17.6
25.5
27.3
Finland
24.5
35.4
22.4
29.4
19.2
24.4
22.1
28.5
Austria
24.2
25.6
24.3
27.4
20.3
18.0
27.0
21.6
Denmark
24.2
19.3
24.6
22.2
26.7
25.0
25.3
22.9
Netherlands
23.4
25.8
23.4
25.3
20.7
16.2
25.7
22.7
Ireland
21.5
25.1
20.6
23.1
19.0
19.9
22.5
20.4
Sweden
5.5
5.3
5.4
4.8
6.2
8.5
6.9
3.4
17-country average
28.5
30.5
27.9
31.4
24.4
24.2
29.1
29.4

Data for Europe from the Third European Study on Working Conditions 2000 (ESWC). Data for Canada and the U.S. from Ekos Rethinking North American Integration Survey (ERNAIS), 2002.
 

Employment Status

On average, self employed workers are slightly more likely than paid workers to feel that their health is at risk from their jobs, with the exceptions being Canada, Denmark, Germany, Italy, and Sweden. In Canada, 32.9 percent of paid workers feel their health is at risk, compared to 26.9 percent of self-employed workers. In comparison, paid workers and self-employed workers in the U.S. report the same levels of perceived health risk from their job and fewer paid workers in the U.S. report their health is at risk because of their job than in Canada (28.4 percent in U.S. versus 32.9 percent in Canada). 
 

Gender

Women are less likely to report that their health is at risk than men (with the exception of Denmark and Sweden ). The same gender pattern is found in Canada and the U.S. with female workers in both countries being less likely to report feeling their health at risk due to work. 
 

Age

Workers aged 25-44 and 45-64 are more likely than younger workers to report feeling their health is at risk due to their jobs. However, this pattern is not consistent across all countries. Youth (less than 25 years) in Spain are most likely to report feeling their health is at risk, with 50 percent of respondents in that age group reporting risk. This compares to the overall average of 24 percent. In Canada , workers in the 25-44 age group report the highest levels of health risk, at 34%, compared to approximately 30 percent for the other age groups. In the U.S. , the incidence of health risk reported is similar across all age groups. 

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