Social problems within occupational health care

Authors

  • Andrzej Boczkowski Uniwersytet Łódzki, Wydział Ekonomiczno-Socjologiczny, Instytut Socjologii, Katedra Socjologii Edukacji image/svg+xml

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18778/0208-600X.45.05

Keywords:

Occupational health services, health care of employees, social problems, legitimization of occupational health care system

Abstract

In the autumn 2008 a survey was carried out aiming to verify social problems in occupational health care activities. The method applied was mailing questionnaire. The sample was randomly selected from a data basis containing all subjects performing preventive screenings of workers in Poland. Questionnaires was mailed to 1113. physicians functioning within the system of occupational health care. As 96 addresses turned to be invalid, 127 returns make 13% response rate.

The survey was aimed in particular at perceiving or not perceiving by OHS physicians important social problems emerging in occupational health care, their ways to assess them and perceive their causes, consequences and perspectives to solve them.

Some problem areas were chosen to be verified by the survey: the confrontation of interests of workers, employers and physicians in the OHS area, workers and employers expectations towards OHS physicians, the problems of availability and scope of services within OHS, employers’ and workers’ co-deciding on performing or continuing the work in spite of some health counter-indications.

Four particular spheres of social activities that enable OHS functioning were also distinguished: 1. Recruitment, selection and training of the OHS personnel; 2. Research works and scientific knowledge application; 3. OHS funding; 4. Regulation of OHS functioning by law. Within these spheres different social problems emerge (negatively assessed phenomena disturbing occupational health care, making the OHS practice difficult or sometimes even impossible). OHS physicians affirmed (or not) ‒ using examples ‒ the presence of such problems and indicated their causes, consequences and solution perspectives. Particular groups of issues were expressed in a few sequences of questions making up the questionnaire applied in the survey as a research tool.

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Published

2013-06-30

How to Cite

Boczkowski, Andrzej. 2013. “Social Problems Within Occupational Health Care”. Acta Universitatis Lodziensis. Folia Sociologica, no. 45 (June): 65-82. https://doi.org/10.18778/0208-600X.45.05.