Working conditions and health at call centres in Sweden

There are a range of problems associated with job on call centres. A range of problems associated with the job have become apparent, with time pressure, performance monitoring via computer, monitoring of phone calls, ergonomic deficiencies and musculoskeletal problems amongst the problems reported. An earlier study of a call centre in Sweden found inadequate working conditions and signs of ill health amongst a high percentage of the population in their 20s who had only been working for 2-3 years. The situation was worse there than amongst older employees in other industries with computer-intensive jobs.
Inadequate working conditions and the high incidence of medical complaints amongst young employees may mean that call centres are failing to provide the sustainable work opportunities that many are counting on, e.g. in rural areas. Scientific studies of call centres are few and the state of knowledge of working conditions and health there is deficient.
A cross-sectional study into working and health conditions at call centres in Sweden was conducted with the aim of contributing to a sustainable development of call centre work. The project was conducted in partnership with the Ergonomics Programme at the National Institute for Working Life, Occupational Medicine North, Sundsvall Hospital, and the Institute for Psychosocial Factors and Health at the Karolinska Institute.
Data were collated at social, corporate and individual level from 15-20 larger call centres with different operating spheres, ownership structures and geographical location. Data were collected on work organisation, content and times, physical and psychosocial working conditions, and health and well-being with the aid of questionnaires, observations, measurements, medical examinations and company registers (including the computerised monitoring system). A total of approximately 1,500 people were included in the study. Models were tried out in order to evaluate the effects of ill health and inadequacies in working conditions at the company's expense.