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The Office of the Parliamentary Ombudsman of Finland received unexpected publicity when the Finnish Broadcasting Company YLE featured the results of an extensive survey on working conditions conducted by the labour protection authorities in 2002-09.
An YLE reporter had asked one of the survey coordinators which workplace had done best in the statistical study and received the reply: the Office of the Parliamentary Ombudsman. The report itself did not mention individual workplaces.
The workplace exploration is based on a questionnaire developed for the use of labour protection inspectors. With its aid, they are able to gauge the quality of working conditions at individual workplaces. There are 18 questions in all, of which half relate to psychosocial conditions, a quarter to workload factors affecting support and physical exercise bodies and the remainder vulnerabilities and accident risks in the workplace. The reply alternatives are on a scale from one (very dissatisfied) to five (very satisfied).
Over 28,000 employees at about 1,500 workplaces replied to the questionnaire in the period 2002-09. The Office of the Parliamentary Ombudsman was surveyed in 2005.
Interviewed in the news report, Ombudsman Petri Jääskeläinen said the good result was founded on the fact that the staff there don’t just listen, but are also listened to. Senior Legal Adviser Kaija Tanttinen-Laakkonen, in turn, emphasised the importance of the work and motivation.
The workplaces that did best in the survey were small ones, with fewer than 30 people. Working conditions are felt to be best in the information and communications sector as well as in banks and insurance institutions. They were experienced as poorest in the manufacturing and transport sectors as well as in health and social services.
Text: Kaija Tuomisto, Information officer, The Office of the Parliamentary Ombudsman of Finland
Translation: Greg Coogan
