According to the Communication Workers Union (CWU) there is little difference between conditions for staff working in a call centre and those experienced by chickens in factory farms. The regimented layout of call centres (top photograph) resembling those faced by battery hens (bottom photograph).
Just as campaigners have strived to improve the lot of battery hens, so should the conditions of call centre staff raise concerns.
The CWU argue that you can only push people so far and that this was the clear message behind the recent unprecedented explosion of protest at call centres as thousands of workers vented their fury at the bullying management style and intolerable stress levels that, the union claim, have become synonymous with the sector.
TUC General Secretary has, for example, labelled call centres "the Satanic Mills of the 21st Century". This is of major concern as the sector employs over 200,000 British workers.
The CWU is therefore pleased that the Health and Safety Executive is to carry out research into working practices in call centres amid mounting concerns that Britain's biggest growth industry may be storing up health problems for the future. Specific areas identified for research include: screen safety, voice loss, back problems, general aches and pains, stress, noise levels and work station requirements.
In November 1999, BT was rocked by its first national strike for 13 years as around 4,000 CWU members stopped working for 24 hours, in 37 customer service centres around the country, in protest at intolerable working conditions. The action followed a 81% vote in favour of strike action.
Press Release E231:99 - 29 November 1999
HSE announces research into call centres
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has announced today it is to research working practices in call centres. It is estimated that between 1 - 1.7% of the total United Kingdom workforce is employed in call centres. This is more than the combined workforce of coal mining, steel and vehicle production, and it is predicted that this number will increase to just over 2% in the next two to three years.
The study will be carried out by the Health and Safety Laboratory (HSL), which is an agency of HSE. The research will look at a broad range of call centres which differ in their location, sector type, size and maturity. The researchers will measure potential physical and psychological health risks associated with the working practices employed and will explore the measures to be taken which may reduce risks. The research will start by the end of this year. The first phase will concentrate on developing a questionnaire which will be used to assess potential health risks. Phase two will involve using the questionnaire during interviews with call handlers, team leaders, middle and senior management, union representatives and occupational health professionals. The research will also involve reviewing the application of existing guidance and regulations, such as the Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992, to see if guidance can be produced specifically aimed at call centres. The questionnaire will cover Display Screen Equipment (DSE) assessments, working environments, requirements for work stations, the daily work routine of call handlers, training, organisational working practices, shifts, and health issues such as stress, noise levels, voice loss and musculoskeletal disorders (such as back problems and other aches and pains in the joints and muscles).
The research has been commissioned by HSE's Local Authority Unit (LAU), as it is LA inspectors who have responsibility for enforcing health and safety law in call centres. It was decided that the further research was necessary following an exploratory study which was completed by HSL earlier this year. This involved call centre staff and other stakeholders such as unions and LA inspectors. This showed that areas needing further study included musculoskeletal disorders and voice loss. LAU has already issued a Local Authority Circular (LAC) to LAs which provides initial advice for LA inspectors who visit call centres. This gives the results of the exploratory study and outlines the issues that should be considered, such as the working environment, daily routine of workers and specific health issues.
The data from the forthcoming research will be analysed and an amended LAC will be issued. Brian Etheridge, head of LAU, said: "HSE has decided to commission this research as the call centre industry is a relatively new, and rapidly expanding, one. It is important that we are able to give appropriate advice and guidance to the industry and the enforcing authorities.
1. Office environments are covered by a range of regulations and guidance, but unions, employers, employees and LA inspectors have proposed that call centres are a unique working environment because of a combination of factors. These include the shift systems, electronic performance monitoring, having to spend extended, intensive periods working with both a telephone and computer and the high turnover of staff.
2. There are between 900 and 1,300 call centres in Great Britain. The number is inexact as there is no universally agreed definition of what constitutes a call centre. HSL has adopted the following definitions: · A call centre is a work environment in which the main business is conducted via the telephone whilst simultaneously using DSE. This covers a single department in a company, such as an internal helpline, as well as a company whose sole business is to handle telephone calls. · A call handler is an employee whose job requires them to spend a significant proportion of their working time responding to calls on the telephone whilst simultaneously using DSE.
