Occupational safety and health risks in Greek libraries

Abstract

Librarians and information scientists face physical, ergonomic and psychosocial hazards during their work. Improvement of working conditions is one of the main goals included in the “Sustainable Development Goals”, specifically in the goal “Decent Work & Economic Growth”. This study aims to review sector occupational safety and health (OSH) hazards and to present the main results of a field study including 124 librarians and information scientists from different regions in Greece. The main results of the study will be presented by relevant graphs. According to the study, the librarians and information scientists seem to be relatively informed regarding OSH issues. The most crucial OSH hazards mentioned by the librarians and information scientists themselves were the microclimate and dust, the high - frequency work repetitive strain injuries and the insecurity experiencing while being at work. The most important consequences on employees were the musculoskeletal disorders and stress. The more experienced employees, having over 15 years of previous employment in libraries, mentioned more frequent musculoskeletal disorders and stress. The results confirm previous studies which have been included in the literature review.