Psychosocial risk factors and work satisfaction in female seasonal workers in Chile

• Main Authors: Gonzalo Palomo-Vélez, Jairo Carrasco, Álvaro Bastías, María Doris Méndez, Andrés Jiménez
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English; Spanish; Portuguese
• Published: Pan American Health Organization
• Subjects: Women's health; job satisfaction; risk factors; women; working; Chile; Medicine; R; Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Public aspects of medicine; RA1-1270; Arctic
• Online Access: https://doaj.org/article/660b9b3afd564acaaf218fcdbbb69e92

OBJECTIVE: Characterize the relationship between psychosocial risk factors and work satisfaction in female seasonal agricultural workers in central Chile. METHODS: Cross-sectional study in a non-probability sample of 106 female workers for a fruit trading and export company in the region of Maule, Chile. The interviews were conducted in September and October 2013. The SUSESO ISTA-21 questionnaire was used to evaluate five areas of psychosocial risk in the workplace (psychological requirements, active work and opportunities for development, social support in the company and quality of leadership, compensation, and "double presence"). Questionnaire S10/12 was used to measure labor satisfaction in three areas (satisfaction with benefits received, satisfaction with the company's physical environment, and satisfaction with supervision) and satisfaction in general. RESULTS: The level of psychosocial risk was high in two areas (double presence, and active work and possibilities of development) and medium in the other areas; the level of satisfaction was high in all three areas. The perception of psychosocial risk factors was negatively associated with work satisfaction in three areas: active work and opportunities for development, social support in the company and quality of leadership, and compensation (compensation was negatively associated except for satisfaction with the company's physical environment). CONCLUSIONS: Risks associated with seasonal work and the main issues that workers consider to affect their satisfaction with work and, by extension, their general well-being, are concentrated mainly in the three areas identified.