Revisiting Complaints Regarding Occupational Health and Safety: The Impact of Time and Economic Conditions

This paper re-examines the matter of complaints regarding occupational health and safety in the area of Thessaloniki, originally dealt with in a 2009 paper. In this paper we examine (a) the validity of the conclusions derived in the 2009 paper as well as the effect of time on them and (b) the effect of the economic conditions on the complaints received and the penalties imposed by the office in charge. The main conclusions of the 2009 paper are still valid: complaints do not lead to the detection of the most dangerous workplaces and no priority should be given to their investigation. Furthermore, as the income per head declines or as the number of unemployed people rises, the complaints are more likely to be characterised as “irrelevant”. On the other hand, the economic conditions do not seem to have any effect on the decision of the office in charge to impose sanctions.