Occupational Risk Education
Some of the risks that we will point out, and their interdependence affect all / as professionals working in education, both teaching and non-teaching, and result in problems and diseases such as musculoskeletal disorders, stress and anxiety, development of allergies, infections or lack of job security. Others, however, particularly affect groups such as the and teachers (voice problems or stress and emotional exhaustion), or workers' labor centers (exposure to hazardous substances, muscle disorders).
Even today, socially, the idea persists that those who work in education, we face risks not particularly harmful. However, data are published each year as the Report of the State Board of Education, and performing studies on unions as we do in the Confederation of STEs-Inter, which show the persistence of specific diseases among workers that affect people, who end up sick, causing an expense social health resources by suing or hiring of substitutes, girls and undermine the quality of public services and education provided by these workers. Furthermore, as diseases that are generated in a large temporary space, often escape the obvious relationship of cause and effect they have, for example, accidents, and not being recognized as occupational diseases1, drift to those who have them all costs of rehabilitation and recovery of ailments that are caused by reason of job performance. If we add that the health surveillance through medical examinations is not done in a systematic and targeted to the risks inherent our work environment, complete a circle that prevents being able to take proper precautions.
Since STEs-I want to point out now some areas and aspects which we believe constitute the main manifestations of risk in our sector.
Job stability in employment
The degree of certainty of continuity in the job of a teacher raises serious deficiencies in the balance between the effort required by their work and provides them with compensation. This is evident in the case of temporary teachers.
Other education workers who perform tasks that require the use of vehicles in different geographic points (roaming) have a very different professional profile: Examiners / as, coordinators, psychologists / as, janitors, union members, tutors practices, etc. These groups are a number of risks, which should be borne by the Administration and / or business, supporting them on their own vehicles and their health, in return compensatory amounts insufficient.
Security issues and industrial hygiene (Machinery, equipment, substances, material handling, workplace ,...)
27% of the English hospitals suspended in security this year according to the study Consumer-Eroski, but noticeably improved compared to other research conducted in 2003 where the share accounted for 68%. This study shows safety deficiencies as bars on windows without opening the interior while acknowledging progress in safety in open spaces (patios, baskets, goals) and indoors (classrooms, toilets, dining room, gym).
However, there are still many risks for which preventive action is required and at other times the Confederation of STEs (Orton, 2003) have pointed out, the referred to as inherent in other workplaces (patios, porches and spaces soils at different levels that lead falls, stairs that violate the measures, the existence of platforms in some classes, slippery floors, poor anchors goals and baskets, architectural barriers, vehicles on the inside of the courts in times of work, doors, motor-drive mechanisms without paralysis, ... ) with regard to machinery and work equipment (CE no indication, no scheduled maintenance, display screens do not meet the technical guide, machines used by students in workshops and laboratories that do not comply with the rules ... ), the risks of cargo handling (lack of risk assessment, lack of technical and or forklift trucks, lack of training in handling techniques and risk ,...); electrical installations, boilers and gas cylinders (no grounding and interruptions differentials, lack of sufficient insulation, gaps in boilers and conducting gases, inadequate and unsafe location products and flammable materials, ...), the risks of chemicals and chemical and biological contaminants (deficiencies in storage and labeling, waste without proper collection, ...), the risks of ventilation , air, noise and lighting (lack of acoustic insulation, inadequate temperatures, lack natural light, ...), the external risks and emerging (electromagnetic radiation from mobile phone masts near schools, ...) or deficiencies in emergency planning and self-protection.
musculoskeletal disorders (repetitive motion, muscle-voice overhead ,...)
Sprains, hernias, muscle aches, back pain, musculoskeletal pain, problems in the neck, ... In all the national and regional surveys on working conditions, these conditions are at the top among the diseases that show the people surveyed. Jobs traditionally associated with "hard" "Repetitive" or "heavy", combined with other risks, are shaped so many times before an acute overexertion. But in many sectors, such as the one at hand, they manifest over time slowly and gradually. Consider the physical effort normally carried out by junior employees of schools in some of its tasks, the movements are repetitive throughout his professional life Childhood Education teachers to catch up for children aged three and four years, the work of educators that are tailored to the needs of pupils with special educational needs, helping with transportation, food, grooming, bowel and bladder control, school activities, ... (Andrew Pierce and Llorca, 2003), the overhead and recurring muscle activity of the faculty of physical education throughout their working hours and professional life. These are just some examples that highlight risks and maintaining awkward postures, movements or muscle overload and repetitive strain. In schools it is necessary to prevention through a new organization of work that addresses the adequacy of the periods task-force-long pauses, the cast and share burdens and tasks, etc., An adaptation of the jobs changing the furniture ergonomically de forma que permita la realización de posturas correctas y sin riesgo en cualquier dependencia del centro, evitando así posturas forzadas; el diseño y construcción de los espacios de los centros educativos desde criterios preventivos y ergonómicos, pensando en lugares para la relajación, la coordinación y la programación, el encuentro interpersonal y el descanso; favoreciendo medios mecánicos para los desplazamientos de cargas y de personas (grúas, ascensores, carga y descarga del autobús de alumnado con necesidades,…); dando formación a las personas adultas e insertándolas curricularmente con el alumnado, para la prevención de las dolencias musculoesqueléticas; diseñando y putting in place affirmative action to women working in education, to avoid the overhead of double or triple shifts to them.
Anxiety and Stress (complexity, workload ,...)
is known that psychosocial risk factors at work and the time spent in the workplace can bring up the becoming chronic stress and the consequent damage to health. It is no longer possible to hide the role of stress and other mental disorders among the causes of sick leave among teachers, but from union areas continue to call repeatedly to amend cataloging system and collection of low to have a more direct way to relate these conditions to the situations of teaching and professional activities in order to plan and carry out preventive actions.
from different conceptual frameworks are today identified as key risks in the education sector heavy psychological demands posed by the performance of the teaching task, lack of social support that this work receives and expresses the imbalance between the effort put many professionals and low compensation they receive.
Beyond the old fallacy of prevention focus on individual differences in coping among whom we work, situations of health risk are dangerous in themselves, regardless of the complexity that they can bring the uniqueness of individuals. As noted Artazcoz (2003), among smokers get cancer and some other not, and would question why the risk of this habit. Prevention should be aimed at eliminating or minimizing risk situations that increase stress and anxiety among the teachers: hostile physical environments (noise levels that promote concentration and reduce anxiety, inappropriate temperatures in the classroom, reflections on blackboards, whiteboards hazardous fluorescent flicker, poor ventilation in classrooms, inadequate furniture, ...) existence of an organization working with pathogens spaces (multi-purpose teaching rooms out of places to rest, gathering and preparing for classes), increased demands on social and emotional system of teachers with increased load work of each teacher (teaching hours, number of students per classroom, number of charge groups, complexity of the student, the student unrest, lack of expertise and support, irrational times, lack of administrative staff at all educational levels, lack of meeting time for teaching teams, lack of real pause time, ...) lack of social support to the teaching (no support from peers and superiors, lack of support from families and society, inadequate management of conflicts, lack of cooperation from families, lack of participation of groups in the educational community, inadequate management of interpersonal coexistence and leadership in groups, etc.).
Workplace Violence (bullying, aggression and peer users ,...)
recently have been aware of workplace violence situations where the users of education, as students or in some cases their families, workers have been involved with teaching and non teaching episodes of physical violence or verbal threats and intimidation vexatious impinging on mu-chas occasions in public and workplace itself, the moral authority of the worker and risk their physical integrity. They are also known bullying situations to workers and education workers. Sometimes individuals are particularly keen due to abuse and dominance behaviors in others by a lack of leadership and management of conflicts adequate and in others by the presence of groups facing conflict escalating to ending violence directed at a victim. Also bullying, although it is an occupational hazard, it is evident in the school setting through role models, relationship and abuse of power, prevention and treatment which require workers to demonstrate teaching and being custodians of values \u200b\u200bopposed to domination, submission and abuse. Finally, we also want to mention only those organizational forms that allow violence to happen.
prevention means reinforcing links users with the same system, increase the social value of education workers in society (institutional campaigns to raise awareness and strengthen the work of education workers) and encourage spaces for coexistence (joint activities and co-knowledge), training (Schools, parents, schools prevention), the resolution of conflicts (models of conflict management, mediation, social and school) and sharing among users of the system and workers (school and district councils), designing protocols performance against bullying and school and implementing educational measures in families and in schools which find that violence can never be the solution to problems.
All identified risks posed to the Confederation of STEs-I a breeding ground in work environments that directly and adversely affect the working conditions of workers of education. These, en el desempeño de su tarea, se enfrentan a situaciones que deben ser identificadas, evaluados sus riesgos y establecidos los planes de prevención, que eviten que al cabo sucedan los accidentes laborales y se produzcan enfermedades profesionales que, todavía hoy, no les son reconocidas.
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