School of Management, Australian School of Business, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Int J Health Serv. 2013;43(4):721-44. doi: 10.2190/HS.43.4.h.
An international body of scientific research indicates that growth of job insecurity and precarious forms of employment over the past 35 years have had significant negative consequences for health and safety. Commonly overlooked in debates over the changing world of work is that widespread use of insecure and short-term work is not new, but represents a return to something resembling labor market arrangements found in rich countries in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Moreover, the adverse health effects of precarious employment were extensively documented in government inquiries and in health and medical journals. This article examines the case of a large group of casual dockworkers in Britain. It identifies the mechanisms by which precarious employment was seen to undermine workers and families' health and safety. The article also shows the British dockworker experience was not unique and there are important lessons to be drawn from history. First, historical evidence reinforces just how health-damaging precarious employment is and how these effects extend to the community, strengthening the case for social and economic policies that minimize precarious employment. Second, there are striking parallels between historical evidence and contemporary research that can inform future research on the health effects of precarious employment.
一个国际科学研究机构表明，在过去 35 年中，工作不安全感和不稳定就业形式的增长对健康和安全产生了重大的负面影响。在关于不断变化的工作世界的辩论中，通常被忽视的是，广泛使用不安全和短期工作并不是什么新鲜事，而是类似于 19 世纪和 20 世纪初富裕国家的劳动力市场安排的回归。此外，不稳定就业对健康的不利影响在政府调查和健康与医学期刊中都有广泛的记录。本文以英国一大群临时工为例，研究了不稳定就业被认为如何损害工人及其家庭的健康和安全的机制。文章还表明，英国码头工人的经历并非独一无二，历史可以提供重要的教训。首先，历史证据强化了不稳定就业对健康的破坏性影响，以及这些影响如何延伸到社区，从而支持采取社会和经济政策，尽量减少不稳定就业。其次，历史证据和当代研究之间存在惊人的相似之处，这可以为不稳定就业对健康影响的未来研究提供信息。
