Being Unskilled as an Employee in Turkey; Concepts of Work, Workplace and Social Life in the Context of Occupational Disease

Abstract

In this study, it was aimed to evaluate the health status and thoughts about referral of unskilled workers who applied to Dokuz Eylul University Faculty of Medicine Occupational Diseases Clinic with the suspicion of occupational disease. In order to conduct the cross-sectional study, which was completed with 102 cases, the approval was obtained from the Non-Invasive Research Ethics Committee of Dokuz Eylül University (numbered 2019/10-28). The data were analyzed by using SPSS version 22.0 and p <0.05 was considered significant. It was observed that union membership was low. More than half of the study group had secondary education or less, and half did not receive training on the about work and health. Approximately 65% of blue-collar cases do not know their rights in case of diagnosis of occupational disease. Health perception is higher in cases with high educational level and not diagnosed with occupational disease. Based on the findings of our study, in which we determined that the socioeconomic conditions of the employees are directive in the shaping of their thoughts, it has been revealed that the level of \"individualization\" expected in the modern age is low in our research group. It has been determined that being diagnosed with an occupational disease creates fear of \"stigma\" because it strengthens social exclusion and the state of being locked down.