Title
Workplace violence and the changing nature of work in Europe: Trends and risk groups
Author
van den Bossche, S.
Taris, T.
Houtman, I.
Smulders, P.
Kompier, M.
Publication year
2013
Abstract
Incidence rates of third party workplace violence in Europe have increased, but little is known about the causes thereof. It has been suggested that the growth of the service sector and the intensification of work could be responsible for the increase. This study aimed to identify trends in the prevalence of physical workplace violence across Europe, as well as to uncover factors explaining these trends. Three cross-sectional waves (1995, 2000, and 2005) of the European Working Conditions Survey were used, involving 58,520 workers and covering 15 European member states. Logistic regression analyses were performed to investigate associations between work characteristics and violence prevalence. Workplace violence increased significantly during the study interval. Although violence was clearly related to specific characteristics of the labour market (gender, age, sector, etc.) and the work environment (client contact frequency, time pressure, control, and computer work), recent changes in the European labour market composition and work environment could not explain the increase in violence. In jobs characterized by high levels of computer work in particular, violence appears to be an emerging risk. Our results suggest that the nature (and perhaps quality) of client contact is changing, leading to higher violence risks.
Subject
Organisation
WH - Work & Health
BSS - Behavioural and Societal Sciences
Work and Employment
Workplace
Healthy Living
Cross-national
Europe
Surveillance
Third party violence
Work environment
Workplace violence
To reference this document use:
http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:10572813-cdae-4133-8409-b095ec21c90f
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1080/1359432x.2012.690557
TNO identifier
470475
Source
European journal of work and organizational psychology, 22 (5), 588-600
Document type
article