Studies look at link between ‘precarious’ work and injury and illness risk

Toronto — Workers with “precarious” jobs – which can include temporary contracts, part-time hours, irregular schedules and low wages – face an elevated risk of a work-related injury and illness, results of two recent studies out of Canada show.

Researchers from the Institute for Work and Health wanted to learn whether employment conditions other than physical hazards may be linked to the rate of workplace injuries and illnesses.

For the first study, published in the journal Occupational & Environmental Medicine, they examined lost-time compensation claims from Ontario’s Workplace Safety and Insurance Board and 2016-2019 labor force data. They found that workers who reported “high” or “very high” exposures to precarious employment had a nearly threefold increased risk of injury and illness.

The researchers suggest that workplace strategies consider precarious jobs “an occupational hazard and a marker of work injury risk.”

For the other study, published in the journal Epidemiology & Community Health, the researchers used labor statistics and workers’ comp claims for work-related COVID-19 infections from April 2020 to April 2022.

Workers with a “very high” exposure to precarious employment were almost five times more likely to contract COVID-19. Even after controlling for occupational exposures such as public-facing work, indoor work and working in close proximity to others, the researchers found a fourfold increase in COVID-19 risk.

Compared with workers with a low probability of precarious employment, work injury and illness risks were:

• 105% higher for workers with “medium” probability of precarious employment.
• 181% higher for workers with “high” probability of precarious employment.
• 182% higher for workers with “very high” probability of precarious employment

The researchers say strategies that promote equitable and sustained recovery should consider and address the risks associated with workers in precarious job situations.

“Precarious employment acts as an upstream driver of injuries, illnesses and infections in the workplace,” Faraz Shahidi, lead author of both studies and an IWH associate scientist, said in a press release.