Disparate exposure to physically demanding working conditions in France.
BACKGROUND
Our study was aimed at examining disparate exposure to physically demanding working conditions in France, a key objective being to identify the types of employees/jobs requiring high-priority preventive actions.


METHODS
We analyzed the data from the 2017 French nationwide cross-sectional survey (SUMER) on occupational hazards to which French employees in various sectors were subjected. The prevalence of several types of physically demanding working conditions (lifting of heavy loads, awkward body postures, vibrations, noise, and extreme temperatures) was explored. Potential associations of individual and job characteristics with these factors of hardship at work were studied by multivariate logistic regression.


RESULTS
In total, 48% of employees were exposed to at least one physically demanding working condition and 24.8% were exposed to multiple constraints. While managers and intellectual professionals were exposed relatively infrequently to physical constraints, blue-collar workers experienced the highest frequency of exposure. On the one hand, the role of company size depended on the factor of hardship at work considered; on the other hand, employees in large-scale companies were generally less exposed. As expected, employees in the construction industry were the most exposed to physical constraints; that said, our results also show that some activities in the services sector (e.g., personal care, administrative and support services) were quite significantly affected by a wide array of physically demanding working conditions.


CONCLUSION
Notwithstanding the establishment in France of Plans de Santé au travail (preventive workplace health and safety plans), occupational risks were found to be high, and above all, they were unevenly distributed among the various socio-professional categories, and strongly contributed to social inequalities in health. Our results identify the types of publics to be designated as high-priority targets for preventive measures aimed at reducing the adverse impacts of physically demanding working conditions and the incidence of associated musculoskeletal disorders.
['Havet|N|N|', 'Fournier|J|J|', 'Stefanelli|J|J|', 'Plantier|M|M|', 'Penot|A|A|']
D000293:Adolescent D000328:Adult D000368:Aged D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies D055873:Extreme Cold Weather D055874:Extreme Heat D005260:Female D005602:France D054624:Health Status Disparities D006801:Humans D008297:Male D008875:Middle Aged D009623:Noise, Occupational D009784:Occupational Diseases D016273:Occupational Exposure D009790:Occupations D011187:Posture D015995:Prevalence D012307:Risk Factors D000073577:Shift Work Schedule D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires D014732:Vibration D016526:Workload D017132:Workplace D055815:Young Adult
Physically demanding working conditions Awkward body postures Bruit nocif Conditions de travail physique Expositions professionnelles Harmful noise Health inequalities Inégalités de santé Occupational exposure Physical workload Port de charges Postures pénibles