Working Conditions in a Selected Sample of Call Centre Companies in Sweden

• Autorzy: Norman K. , Tornqvist E. W. , Toomingas A.
• Języki publikacji: EN

Abstrakty

EN

Background. Call centres (CCs) are among the most rapidly growing forms of workplaces in Sweden. The purpose of the study was to describe and compare working conditions between operators at internal and external CC companies and work tasks of different complexity. Method. A questionnaire was answered by 1 183 operators, 848 women and 335 men, from 28 different CCs. The questionnaire covered background factors, employment, working hours and remuneration, call logging and monitoring, duties, computer work and workplace design during the previous month. Results. Operators at external companies and operators with low-complexity work tasks were younger, more often employed by the hour and worked on a varying roster. They spent longer time on customer calls and had less varied tasks. Additional remuneration, call logging and monitoring were more common at external companies and among operators with low-complexity work tasks. Conclusion. The working conditions varied between internal and external CCs. There was also a variation in working conditions between work tasks of different complexity. There were aspects of supervision style and organization of work at CCs, especially at external ones and those with low-complexity tasks that could introduce stress and lack of well being among the staff.

Słowa kluczowe

EN

working conditions; call centre; questionnaire; computer work

• Wydawca: Taylor & Francis
• Czasopismo: International Journal of Occupational Safety and Ergonomics
• Rocznik: 2008
• Tom: Vol. 14, No. 2
• Strony: 177--194
• Opis fizyczny: Bibliogr. 50 poz., tab.

Twórcy

autor

Norman K.

• Orebro University, School of Health and Medical Sciences, Orebro, Sweden

autor

Tornqvist E. W.

• The Royal Institute of Technology, School of Technology and Health, Huddinge, Sweden

autor

Toomingas A.

• Karolinska Institutet, Department of Public Health Sciences, Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Stockholm, Sweden

Bibliografia

• 1.Norling P. Call centre companies and new patterns of organizations. Economic and Industrial Democracy. 2001;22(1):155–68.
• 2.Punnett L, Bergqvist U. Visual display units workload and upper extremity musculoskeletal disorders (Arbete och Halsa No. 1997:16). Stockholm, Sweden: National Institute for Working Life; 1997.
• 3.Tittiranonda P, Burastero S, Rempel D. Risk factors for musculoskeletal disorders among computer users. In: Cherniack M, editor. Office ergonomics. Philadelphia, PA, USA: Hanley & Belfus; 1999. p. 17–38.
• 4.Aaras A, Ro O. Work load when using “mouse” as an input device. A comparison between a new developed “mouse” and a traditional “mouse” design. Int J Hum Comput Interact. 1997;92:105–18.
• 5.Karlqvist L. A process for the development, specification and evaluation of VDU worktables. Appl Ergon. 1998;29:423–32.
• 6.Lindegard A, Wahlstrom J, Hagberg M, Hansson G-A, Jonsson P, Wigaeus Tornqvist E. The impact of working technique on physical loads—an exposure profile among newspaper editors. Ergonomics. 2003;46(6):598–615.
• 7.Karlqvist L, Wigaeus Tornqvist E, Hagberg M, Hagman M, Toomingas A. Self-reported working conditions of VDU operators and associations with musculoskeletal symptoms: a cross-sectional study focusing on gender differences. Int J Ind Ergon. 2002;30:277–94.
• 8.Bongers PM, de Winter CR, Kompier MAJ, Hildebrand V. Psychosocial factors at work and musculoskeletal disease. Scand J Work Environ Health. 1993;19:297–312.
• 9.Ferguson D. Posture, aching and body build in telephonists. J Hum Ergol (Tokyo). 1976;5:183–6.
• 10.Ferriera M Jr, Conceicao GMS, Saldiva PHN. Work organization is significantly associated with upper extremities musculoskeletal disorders among employees engaged in interactive computer telephone tasks of an international bank subsidiary in Sao Paulo Brazil. Am J Ind Med. 1997; 31:468–73.
• 11.Hales TR, Sauter SL, Peterson MR, Fine LJ, Anderson Putz V, Schleifer LR, et al. Musculoskeletal disorders among visual display terminal users in a telecommunication company. Ergonomics. 1994;37(10):1603–21.
• 12.Hocking B. Epidemiological aspects of repetition strain injury in telecom Australia. Med J Aust. 1987;147:218–22.
• 13.Norman K, Nilsson T, Hagberg M, Wigaeus Tornqvist E, Toomingas A. Working conditions and health among female and male employees at one call center in Sweden, Am J Ind Med. 2004;46:55–62.
• 14.Norman K, Alm H, Toomingas A, Wigaeus Tornqvist E. Reliability of a questionnaire and an ergonomic checklist for assessing working conditions and health at call centers. International Journal of Occupational Safety and Ergonomics (JOSE). 2006;12(1):53–68.
• 15.Altman DG, Machin D, Bryant TN, Gardner MJ, editors. Statistics with confidence. 2nd ed. London, UK: BMJ Books; 2000.
• 16.DiTecco D, Cwitco G, Arsenault A, André M. Operator stress and monitoring practices. Appl Ergon. 1992;23:29–34.
• 17.Smith M, Carayon P, Sanders K, Lim SY, LeGrande D. Employee stress and health complaints in jobs with and without electronic performance monitoring. Appl Ergon. 1992;23:17–27.
• 18.Westin AF. Two key factors that belong in a macro ergonomic analysis of electronic monitoring: employee perceptions of fairness and the climate of organizational trust or distrust. Appl Ergon. 1992;23: 35–42.
• 19.Austin Knight & Calcom Group. Call center practice not theory. The first national survey of call center management & staff attitudes. London, UK: Austin Knight UK Ltd; 1997.
• 20.Tengblad P, Backstrom M, Herrman L, Hammarstrom O, Sandgren S. Hallbart arbete i informationssamhallet. Slutrapport fran projektet “Call center i utveckling—langsiktligt hallbart arbete med kunder pa distans”. Stockholm, Sweden: ATK Arbetstagarkonsultation AB; 2001.
• 21.Michel LP. Call centres in Germany: employment market and qualification requirements. Economic and Industrial Democracy. 2001;22:143–53.
• 22.Breasthnach P. Globalisation, information technology and the emergence of niche transnational cities: the growth of the call centre sector in Dublin. Geoforum. 2000;31:477–85.
• 23.Buchanan R, Koch-Schulte S. Gender on the line: technology, restructuring and the reorganization of work in the call centre industry. Ottawa, ON, Canada: Status of Women Canada; 2000.
• 24.Bain P, Taylor P. Employee relations, worker attitudes and trade union representation in call centres. Paper presented at the 17th Annual International Labour Process conference, Royal Holloway, University of London, 1999. Retrieved February 4, 2008, from: www .rhul.ac.uk/Management/News-and-Events/conferences/labconf/bain.doc.
• 25.Statistiska Central Byran (SCB). Statistisk arsbok for Sverige 2003. Stockholm, Sweden: SCB; 2002.
• 26.Bulloc C. 2000. Call centers—the nerve centers of business. Retrieved February 20, 2008, from: http://www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/bbing/specials/callcent/script.htm.
• 27.Kjellberg A. Fackliga organisationer och medlemmar i dagens Sverige. Lund, Sweden: Arkiv forlag; 2001.
• 28.Fernie S, Metcalf D. (Not) hanging on the telephone: payment systems in the new sweetshops. Centre Piece. 1998:12(4):3–13.
• 29.Taylor P, Bain P. 1999. An assembly line in the head: work and employment relations in the call centre. Industrial Relation Journal. 1999;30(2):101–17.
• 30.Buckle P. Work related to upper limb disorders and keyboard work: why we may lose the battle. In: Rantanen J, Lehtinen S, Kalimo R, Nordman H, Vinio H, Viikari-Juntura E, editors. New epidemics in occupational health. People in work. Helsinki, Finland; Finnish Institute of Occupational Health; 1994. p. 79–84.
• 31.Hagberg M, Wegman D. Prevalence rates and odds ratios of shoulder neck diseases in different occupational groups. Br J Ind Med. 1987;44:602–10.
• 32.Holman D, Fernie C. 2000. Can I help you? Call centres and job satisfaction. Centre Piece. 2000;5(1):2–5.
• 33.Holman D, Chissick C, Totterdell P. The effects of performance monitoring on emotional labour and well being in CCs. Motiv Emot. 2002;26:57–81.
• 34.Rabe DM, Rocha LE. Psychosocial aspects of the work of female call center operators in a bank of Sao Paulo, Brazil. Psyche. 2002;11:109–20.
• 35.Melin B. Mentala lopande band och risken for kognitiv overbelastning. In: von Otter C, editor. Ute och inne i svenskt arbetsliv. Forskare analyserar och spekulerar om trender i framtidens arbete. Arbetsliv i omvandling. Stockholm, Sweden: Arbetslivsinstitutet; 2003. p. 235–51.
• 36.Belt V, Richardson R. Women’s work in the information economy. Information, Communication & Society. 2000;3:336–85.
• 37.Fenety A, Putnam C, Loppie C. Self-reported health determinants in female CCs tele-operators: a qualitative analysis. In: Lee GCH, editor. Advances in occupational ergonomics and safety. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: IOS Press; 1999. p. 219–24.
• 38.Aiello JR. Computer-based work monitoring: electronic surveillance and its effects. J Appl Soc Psychol. 1993;23:499–507.
• 39.Schleifer L, Glainsky T, Pan C. Mood disturbances and musculoskeletal discomfort: effects of electronic performance monitoring under different levels of VDT data-entry performance. Int J Hum Comput Interact. 1996;8:369–84.
• 40.Grant RA, Higgins CA, Irving RH. Computer performance monitors: are they costing you customers? Sloan Manage Rev. 1998;29:39–45.
• 41.Irving RH, Higgins CA, Safayeni FR. Computerized performance monitoring systems: use and abuse. Commun ACM. 1986;29:794–801.
• 42.Holman D. CCs. In: Holman D, Wall T, Clegg CQ, Sparrow P, Howard A, editors. The new workplace. A guide to the human impact of modern working practices. Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley; 2003.
• 43.Amick BC, Smith MJ. Stress, computer-based work monitoring and measurement systems; a conceptual overview. Appl Ergon. 1992;23:6–16.
• 44.Evans GW, Johnson D. Stress and open-office noise. J Appl Psychol. 2000;85(5): 779–83.
• 45.O’Neill MJ, Carayon P. The relationship between privacy, control and stress responses in office workers. In: Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 37th Annual Meeting. Santa Monica, CA, USA: Human Factors and Ergonomics Society; 1993. p. 479–83.
• 46.Fausett J, Rempel D. VDU-related musculoskeletal symptoms: interactions between work posture and psychosocial factors. Am J Ind Med. 1994;26:597–612.
• 47.Fernstrom E. Physical load in computerised office work—with special references to work task and equipment. Stockholm, Sweden: Department of Environmental Technology and Work Science, Royal Institute of Technology; 1997.
• 48.Aronsson G, Bergqvist U, Almers S. Work organisation and musculoskeletal discomforts in VDT work (Arbete och Halsa No. 1992:4). Stockholm, Sweden: National Institute for Working Life; 1992. In Swedish.
• 49.Hoekstra E, Hurell J, Swanson N, Tepper A. 1996. Ergonomic, job task and psychosocial risk factors for work-related musculoskeletal disorders among teleservice center representatives, Int J Hum Comput Interact. 1996;8:421–431.
• 50.Dormann C, Zapf D. Social stressors at work, irritation, and depressive symptoms accounting for unmeasured third variables in a multi-wave study. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology. 2002;75:33–58.