Company Broad ICT's and Production System practiced: Consequences for Occupational Health

摘要

This paper describes relations between the production system practiced by a company, the ICT's it uses and the combined effects hereof on the quality of working life and absenteeism. In 2000, TNO Work and employment gathered data from 309 larger companies in Dutch manufacturing and service industries. Both a production manager and an ICT manager were extensively interviewed on the use of company broad software (ICT's) - i.e. groupware, workflowsoftware (WFS), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software and e-commerce - and the production system being practiced (taylorism, business process redesign (BPR), the professional bureaucracy/individualized organization and the lean production system (LP)) in the manufacturing or service processes of the company. Finally data were gathered on the quality of working life (e.g. job autonomy, time constraints and feedback) and absenteeism due to sick-leave. The results showed that the production system practiced (PSP) has no direct consequences for the quality of working life. Furthermore, e-commerce integration is associated with a higher percentage of workers in jobs with low skill requirements. Customized variants of 'ERP' are associated with a better quality of information and feedback, while standard ERP software is associated with lower skill requirements. The presence of WFS is related to an overall higher level of job autonomy. Occupational health is negatively influenced by the presence of 'WFS-groupware coupling'. Furthermore, in case of this coupling, the cause for this absenteeism is often work and ICT related. A last important result is that neither company policies aimed at preventing quality of working life risks, nor works councils, compensate for adverse consequences of company broad ICT's. These findings indicate that the functioning of the present safeguards for risks relating to the quality of working life and occupational health, have to be rethought and renewed. This can prevent negative consequences of the usage of company broad ICT's and, consequently, sick-leave and sub-optimal productivity.