According to the findings in this study, in the copper mines of Zambia, regular employees had better working conditions, including higher income, paid holidays, and sickness insurance, than contract employees. However, mineworkers’ self-rated health was determined by job category, such as working underground.
According to the Mineworkers’ Union, among mineworkers in Zambia, regular employees are protected in regard to income and working conditions, including paid holidays, health check-ups, and sickness insurance. These conditions should be fundamentally guaranteed for decent work among mineworkers regardless of employment status. Additionally, especially for underground mineworkers, safety in the work environment should be assured, not only by enhancing physical conditions, including temperature and noise but also by managing human resources and preventing harassment/violence from the perspective of psychological safety and human security. It is important to consider a participatory approach whereby both workers and employees engage in policy making and risk prevention. Regarding psychological safety and human security, in addition to guaranteeing these conditions, safety and working environment management, including human resource management and the prevention of harassment/violence, should be assured, especially for underground mineworkers.
A previous study reported that higher income, low stress and higher job satisfaction were factors associated with early return to work after injuries among mineworkers. 23 From the perspective of the effort-reward imbalance model, higher income is an essential factor that is associated with better quality of life among mineworkers. 24 In this study, higher income was associated with regular employment and higher educational status, but self-rated health was not associated with employment status, such as regular or contract employment. In general, higher income is associated with higher educational status, 25 but there were complex relationships among employment status, job categories, working conditions and educational status in this study. For example, underground mineworkers committed to heavy workloads and nightshift work with uncomfortable conditions, including high temperatures and noisy settings, regardless of educational status. Additionally, having experienced violence that might have resulted in stressful working conditions were associated with self-rated health. Individuals who reported lower self-rated health may have received higher income if their psychological safety was not protected. Regarding health personnel management, the inadequate number and distribution of personnel and mental fatigue in health personnel in low- and middle-income countries are serious challenges. 26, 27, 28 Improving the motivation of health personnel is essential for retention, but financial incentives alone are not sufficient to motivate them. The appropriate distribution of human resources, necessary equipment and financing are indispensable, and functioning management and the maintenance of infrastructure are also required. 29 A study from Senegal reported that the provision of a permanent contract was the most important factor for retaining employees in rural and challenging regions, following the availability of necessary equipment in working facilities and the provision of training opportunities. 30 In the mining industries, the situation may be similar. The satisfaction of temporal financial needs as well as comfortable working environments/conditions, including a balanced and proper salary and guaranteed sustainability of these working conditions, should be fundamental for both individual workers and organizations. In this study, training opportunities did not differ between regular and contract employees and did not contribute to self-rated health, although previous studies have indicated that training opportunities were one of key factors for retaining employees. 31 Additionally, training opportunities, especially entry training at the start of employment at the mining companies, were very limited in this study. This may be due to the conditions of the economic market, different levels of professionalism and background educational status. Further studies should be conducted to determine reasonable factors and explanations.
According to the concept of decent work by the ILO, 32, 33 psychological health in the workplace and work conditions should not be neglected, not only for safety and health of workers but also to maintain equity and social justice. Holistic approaches, such as achieving decent working conditions and appropriate supervision, could guarantee comprehensive well-being, including safety and health, 34 and could strengthen individual and organizational potentiality in underserved settings, such as Zambian mine workplaces. Although there are stressful conditions, including human relationships and workplace harassment/violence, functioning supervision can mitigate mineworkers’ complaints. Therefore, training for both mineworkers and supervisors should be required to produce decent working conditions. For that reason, it is important that a participatory approach be considered, whereby both workers and employees engage in policy making and risk prevention.
This study has several limitations. First, biological measures were not evaluated to assess objective health status. Self-rated health was used to evaluate mineworkers’ health status. However, a previous study demonstrated that self-rated health could be a measurement of health status. 35 Second, this study did not assess the causal factors related to mineworkers’ health status. Third, this study did not fully discuss the contribution of mental health conditions and stress coping to self-rated health. Fourth, details regarding working hours and shifts were not evaluated in this study. According to interviews with administrative officers of the mining companies conducted by the authors, underground workers continue a rotation of nightshift work for 10 days, followed by a 2- or 3-day holiday, and then dayshift work for 10 days, at one of the target companies in this study. However, each company had its own regulations, and the work shift varied depending on the type of work. Further studies are required to describe the relationships between working conditions/environments and mineworkers’ safety and health status. Fifth, the questionnaire survey limited in terms of evaluating the details of “violence” in the workplace. Some respondents considered only physical violence as “violence”, and others might have included verbal and/or psychological violence and other types of harassment. Sixth, the results were not obtained from a representative population of mineworkers in Zambia.