A new study published by the IRSST found that students who held a job or jobs during their studies faced a range of health risks and that job characteristics, working hours and career paths had an impact on various health indicators.

In particular, researchers found that two out of five women and nearly one in five men reported an overall level of fatigue deemed to require medical attention.

Specifically, the analyses identified the accumulation of organizational work constraints, in addition to psychological pressures, social support at work, and the fact of having held a large number of jobs since the age of 15 as factors associated with the severity of the work-related chronic fatigue.

Although the majority of these working students did not view their workload as too high, one in five still perceived his or her paid work as difficult, tiring, demanding or stressful.

The findings also show that about half of the working students had sleep problems.

The study shows that the young people often reported discomfort, injury or other difficulties following an accident. In many cases, these short-term effects did not translate into workplace absenteeism, since in part-time work (PTW) the period between two workdays often provides enough time to recover from these effects.

One can readily understand the potential limits of an indicator judging the severity of an occupational injury based on the length of the absence when PTW is involved.

Also, the report’s findings suggest that the occurrence of an initial work-related accident early in the young person’s career, often during adolescence, increases the risk of having another accident later. The report terminates with the presentation of several avenues for intervention and research.

To download the document: http://www.irsst.qc.ca/en/-irsst-publication-occupational-health-and-safety-of-students-who-hold-jobs-during-the-school-year-effects-of-concurrent-school-activity-and-work-constraints-r-752.html

The French version of this document is available at: http://www.irsst.qc.ca/-publication-irsst-sante-securite-des-etudiants-occupent-emploi-durant-annee-scolaire-effets-cumul-activites-contraintes-travail-r-705.html