Research group on psychosocial risks, organization of work and health
Grup de recerca en riscos psicosocials, organització del treball i salut
Grupo de investigación en riesgos psicosociales, organización del trabajo y salud
DESCRIPTION:
The research group on psychosocial risks, work organization and health of the Autonomous University of Barcelona (POWAH-UAB) is a multidisciplinary group composed by sociologists, biostatisticians and public health professionals from the faculty of medicine and the faculty of political science and sociology. We are a small but very active group, with permanent links with trade unions and other research groups in the health and social sciences fields, at national and international level. We have taken part in the core team responsible for the adaptation and validation of the three versions of the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire (COPSOQ) in Spain, -a tool for the assessment and improvement of the psychosocial work environment changing working conditions-; in the Spanish psychosocial risks surveys (2005, 2010 and 2016); or the two versions of the COTS survey (2020, 2021) with the aim to describe the working conditions and health status of the wage-earners workers in the COVID context in Spain.
ORIGINS:
The POWAH-UAB group was formally born in 2018 when it was accredited as a research group recognized by the Catalan government (2017SGR958). Although we cannot formally talk about POWAH-UAB up to that date, its members, and others who are not officially affiliated with it, have been working together for many years. Specifically, POWAH-UAB is the merger between two members of the Trade Union Institute of Work, Environment and Health (ISTAS) of Barcelona, Salvador Moncada (now in retirement) and Clara Llorens, and researchers of the Biostatistics Unit of the UAB, Albert Navarro and Sergio Salas.
RESEARCH LINES:
The research focus of the POWAH-UAB group is the study of the effect of exposures to psychosocial risks at work on the workers’ health. Here are some specific research lines:
– Relationship between labour management practices and exposure to psychosocial risks at work.
– Class, gender and age inequalities in exposure to psychosocial risks factors at work.
– Job insecurity and precarious employment.
– Participative intervention processes for the psychosocial risks prevention.
– Sickness presenteeism.
– Methodological developments in the occupational health field.