Report argues UK workplaces are among the unhealthiest in Europe

With around half of those in employment working to tight deadlines, only around a third having control over how they work and half reporting being exhausted from work, a new report suggests that UK workplaces rank among the worst in Europe for workplace demands, control at work and job strain.

Exploring the Interactions Between Job Quality, Industries and Health, produced by the Institute for Employment Studies (IES) for the Commission for Healthier Working Lives, can be found here.

It argues that four aspects of job quality appear particularly important for our health and wellbeing: job security and precarity, excessive and/or irregular hours, demands and control at work, and relationships and support.

The report shows that poor job quality was found to be higher for groups already disadvantaged at work, with women, for example, being much more likely than men to be at risk of burnout, while older and lower qualified people are more likely to work in tiring positions.

Those in the transport and storage, construction, commerce and hospitality sectors face the greatest factors known to cause poor health with, overall, 1.7 million people in Great Britain having reported work-related ill health in the last year.

IES Principal Research Fellow, Jonny Gifford, said: “Most UK workers are not in jobs that harm their mental or physical health, but some risk factors have become more common or are more pronounced for the UK than our European peers. Problem areas to prioritise now are long hours, work intensity and a lack of control or work autonomy.”

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