Since the early 1980s, employers have responded to the "crisis"
within the Fordist system of production with new systems of work
organization described as lean and/or modular. It is claimed
that these new systems of production will give workers more control
over decisions at work and alter the characteristics of work as
cognitive demands increase while physical demands fall or remain
constant. This paper explores the health consequences of these
changes in work organization in Canadian automobile plants. It
is based on a studies using new, sector specific measures of work
organization.
This paper introduces the theoretical framework. The study involved
a psychosocial work organization and health survey, the gathering
of blood pressure readings on the shop floor, and the wearing
of ambulatory blood pressure monitors for 24 hours. The survey
includes a new set of work organization questions designed specifically
for use at workplaces where most tasks are short cycle, repetitive
and line-paced. From these questions we construct: a new set
of measures of power and control at work; new measures of physical
workload, time pressure, cognitive workload and monotony; and
indices of social relations at work.
We included the short version of the Karasek JCQ allowing comparison
between the new measures and those originally employed in the
JD_C model. Approximately 1,000 people completed surveys and
provided shop floor blood pressure readings and approximately
200 wore an ambulatory blood pressure monitor. The paper will:
profile the organization of work in automobile plants focusing
on the characteristics of work and how they vary across different
job classifications; profile health outcomes in contemporary automobile
plants focusing on the self reported health, prevalence of hypertension,
and musculoskeletal pain at work; and begin the discussion of
how work affects health outcomes.
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR: Wayne Lewchuk, Labour Studies Program,
McMaster University, KTH 714, Hamilton, On., Canada, L8P 4M4.