Working practices in call centres under scrutiny

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has announced that it is to carry out new research into the working practices in call centres.

The announcement came after complaints from call centre workers and their unions about stress, bullying, harassment, and a host of other health and safety problems. These have led to call centres being dubbed "the new sweatshops". The HSE estimates that more people are now employed in call centres than the combined workforces in coal mining, steel and vehicle production. It expects the number to increase from its current level of around 1%-1.7% of the total UK workforce to 2% in the next two to three years.

The HSE research will cover working with VDUs, working environments, requirements for work stations, the daily work routine of call handlers, training, organisational working practices, shifts, and health issues such as stress, noise levels, voice loss, back problems and other aches and pains in the joints and muscles.

At the end of last year, around 4,000 members of the communication workers' union CWU staged strike action at over 40 BT call centres in protest at working conditions (see page 2). At the same time, banking and finance union Unifi launched a recruitment campaign in non-union call centres (see December 1999 Labour Research, page 3).