- Project number: F 2518
- Institution: Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA)
- Status: Completed Project
Description:
Activities that do not require formal vocational qualifications have come back into focus, particularly against the background of digitalisation and the emerging shortage of skilled workers due to demographic change. The project aimed to expand the body of research on this topic and to identify approaches for Improving this group of workers' work and health situation. In addition to a literature review, descriptive and multivariate secondary analyses of various data were conducted. The results have been published and presented In numerous publications and presentations.
Analyses of working conditions show that low-skilled workers are more affected by physical work demands than skilled and highly skilled workers. A closer look reveals that low-skilled workers are a diverse group. They are predominantly employed in the service sector, characterised by various activities and Interactive work. The psychological demands of emotional stress are an essential factor in preventing health complaints in the service sector. Furthermore, results Indicate that cumulative employment in low-skilled work impairs health.
The project results suggest that the prevailing image of low-skilled work as predominantly physically demanding needs to be broadened to include psychological demands. Companies should be sensitised to this and counteract mental stress, for example, through risk assessment. The project could be followed up with further research on low-skilled work, using qualitative data on the underlying mechanisms between specific working conditions and health.
