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Work ability and its antecedents among cleaning professionals: a comparative study of age subgroups

par Lapthorn, Barbara ;Braeckman, Lutgart;Delobbe, Nathalie;Hellemans, Catherine
Référence Meeting of the Belgian Association for Psychological Science (May 27th 2014: Leuven (KULeuven))
Publication Non publié, 2014

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Résumé :

After many early retirement plans for employees over 55 years and while baby boomers are leaving the labor market, the analysis of work conditions and work ability of the workforce have nowadays become compelling scientific issues and unavoidable challenges for scientists, politicians and stakeholders. These questions are obviously even more critical in areas with high occupational risks. This is the case with industrial cleaning: high speed and quantity of work, low interest, low rewards, low acknowledgment, low co-worker support and low job control (osha.europa.eu, 2010); furthermore, workers are particularly vulnerable to accidents and to musculoskeletal disorders (fatfao.fgov.be, 2002).The present study has two objectives: (1) analyze work ability and its potential antecedents, i.e. the work conditions that workers assume over age in the cleaning sector; (2) compare the contributions of the VOW/QFT (Vragenlijst Over Werkbaarheid/Questionnaire sur les Facultés de Travail) a very complete questionnaire proposed and used by the Belgian Federal Public Service of Employment (Hellemans, 2011, 2013; Hellemans & Closon, 2013) with the well-known but rather superficial WAI (Work Ability Index) (Ilmarinen, Tuomi, & Klockars, 1997; Ilmarinen, 2007). The survey was carried out upon a sample of 228 cleaning professionals working in various places on Belgian territory (industries, university, hospital, catering services – but not in private homes). They completed both the VOW/QFT and the WAI.The results confirm that work ability is influenced by age : F(2, 164) = 4.46, p = .013. The older workers (50+) have a worse work ability score, but there is no difference between less than 40 workers and 40-49 workers. Furthermore, correlations between the two work ability indices from the VOW/QFT with the WAI score are high (r = .41 and .47), and even higher when analyzed from only the 50+ subgroup (r = .53 and .56).