The impact of skills mismatches on occupational accidents: An analysis of the effectiveness of organizational responses

This paper analyzes the effect of worker under-skilling on occupational safety. We estimate the impact of skill deficits on the probability of suffering an accident at work and, second, on the duration of sick leave. In addition, we test whether the company's measures to control the actions of these workers reduce this effect. We propose two moderation models in a sample of 42,871 workers obtained from the Sixth European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS6). The results show that under-skilled workers suffer more accidents and longer periods of sick leave. Furthermore, the results suggest that on-the-job training, safety information, and teamwork weaken the relationship between under-skilling and accidents. However, the duration of sick leave is only reduced by teamwork. Our analysis shows that certain organizational and regulatory practices need to be modified to address the health effects of a lack of skills. The article includes some proposals in this regard.

Automated summary

This paper analyzes the effect of worker under-skilling on occupational safety. The results show that under-skilled workers are more prone to accidents and longer periods of sick leave. On-the-job training, safety information, and teamwork weaken the relationship between under-skilling and accidents, with only teamwork reducing the duration of sick leave. Certain organizational and regulatory practices need to be modified to address the health effects of a lack of skills, and the article proposes some recommendations in this regard.