Employee’s perception of occupational hazards and health complaints in the financial sector (Portuguese sample)

Abstract

The research intention of the paper is to identify relevant occupational hazards at workplace level from the financial sector in Portugal and negative mental or physical well-being complaints (5,000 financial service employees/906 respondents). The identification of groups, subgroups and types of hazards, as for example, inadequate working postures (recognized by 65% of the respondents), long term sitting jobs (99%), activities with repetitive hand or arm movements (50%), long or unsociable hours (9–12 h/day) (53%), career stagnation and uncertainty (49%), unfair treatment of employees (43%) and under use of skills (41%) resulted from the research. Individual physical/somatic complaints, related or aggravated by the work were mentioned by the respondents: low back pain (50%), neck/shoulder pain (46%), irritated or allergies in the eyes, nose, throat (40%), upper limbs pain (37%), headache, dizziness (36%) and overweight (obesity) or other dietary problems (16%). Anxiety (49%), concentration difficulties (42%), depression or reduced self-esteem (20%), suicidal ideation or suicide attempt (3%) and other mental related complaints were also mentioned by the respondents. The results of this research, according to the employees’ perception, may drive the action plans of the professionals (engineers, hygienists, managers) involved in performance improvement activities in the financial sector.