`A Unique Working Environment': Health, Sickness and Absence Management in UK Call Centres

Phil Taylor, Chris Baldry, Peter Bain and Vaughan Ellis

Work, Employment & Society, 2003, vol. 17, issue 3, 435-458

Abstract: This article fills an important gap in our knowledge of call centres by focusing specifically on occupational ill-health. We document the recent emergence of health and safety concerns, assess the responses of employers and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), critique the existing regulatory framework and present a holistic diagnostic model of occupationally induced ill-health. This model is utilized to investigate quantitative and qualitative data from a case study in the privatized utility sector, where the relative contributions to employee sickness and ill-health from factors relating to ergonomics, the built environment and work organization are evaluated. The principal conclusions are that the distinctive character of call-handling is the major cause of occupational ill-health and that effective remedial action would involve radical job re-design. Finally, the limitations of recent HSE guidance are exposed and industrial relations processes and outcomes analysed.

Date: 2003
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:woemps:v:17:y:2003:i:3:p:435-458

DOI: 10.1177/09500170030173002

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