C. Mayhew et al., THE EFFECTS OF SUBCONTRACTING OUTSOURCING ON OCCUPATIONAL-HEALTH-AND-SAFETY - SURVEY EVIDENCE FROM 4 AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRIES/, Safety science, 25(1-3), 1997, pp. 163-178
This article discusses the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) conseq
uences of subcontracting. After briefly discussing the growth of subco
ntracting, the paper considers available evidence on its effects on OH
S and proposes a number of reasons for this. Qualitative and quantitat
ive data gathered during a survey of over 250 self-employed/subcontrac
t and employee workers in four industries were analysed. It was found
that job specific hazard and risk exposures were the major determinant
of patterns of work-related injury and illness. However employment st
atus (i.e. whether workers were subcontractors or employees) had an im
portant secondary effect. Four key features associated with the subcon
tracting of work have been identified as crucial influences on the OHS
of subcontractors: economic and reward factors, disorganisation, inad
equate regulatory controls, and the ability of workers to organise to
protect themselves. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.