ABSTRACT

Economic crises have undoubtedly had a negative impact on the mental and physical health as well as well-being of the workers. At times of crisis, a dramatic increase is seen in the precarious work associated with poor health conditions. The fear and stress of losing their jobs, downsizing production, changing working-time patterns and increasing job demands have an unfavourable effect on the health of the workers. The process of organizational restructuring and downsizing during the crisis has destructive impact on the mental health of the employees faced with redundancy as well as those who stay in the workplace after the restructuring and many managers. Physical and psychological violence and threat are also increasingly seen at workplaces subject to crisis. It is well known that the unemployed are often in a worse state of being in terms of psychological and mental distress than the employed. Moreover, the crisis aggravates the level and extent of mental health problems of both of the employed and the unemployed. The decrease in social protection including particularly health care spending is another important negative outcome caused by the economic crises. Also, the capacities of labour inspectorates and other safety and health services at work are attenuated by the decrease in public spending