Employees' awareness of rights and responsibilities regarding occupational accidents and occupational diseases: Workplace social work model

Work has acquired different meanings from primitive societies to the present day. In primitive societies, individuals worked to sustain their lives, while in modern societies, they work to receive compensation for their efforts. Along this journey of work, changes have also occurred in the workplaces. Initially, individuals in formal contexts identified their workplaces primarily as factories, and later transitioned to different spaces such as offices and workplaces. In the early stages of the Industrial Revolution, the heavy working conditions led to the emergence of issues in the workplace. The frequency of individuals experiencing work accidents and occupational diseases increased due to these harsh working conditions. With the increase in human-centered industrial relations approaches, emphasis has been placed on rights and responsibilities in this field. Due to all these reasons, this research aims to investigate the awareness of employees regarding work accidents and occupational diseases. Another aim of the study is to develop a measurement tool for awareness of work accidents and occupational diseases due to the lack of measurement tools in this field. Accordingly, a mixed method was used in the study, and qualitative and quantitative research findings were combined to propose a model for workplace social services. As a result of the qualitative data of the research, it was found that individuals have low awareness of work accidents and occupational diseases. Based on this result and supported by qualitative research findings, a "Work Accident and Occupational Diseases Awareness Scale" was developed using information obtained from literature and regulations. It was found that awareness of work accidents and occupational diseases, along with other scales used, increased organizational trust, job safety performance, and employee voice. Based on the results obtained in light of all these findings, solution suggestions were made regarding the functioning of the social service unit in workplaces, the duties of professional staff, and the path to be followed in this field.