ABSTRACT
The footwear industry has showed continuous development, imposing as an essential industry in Portuguese social and economic growth. Three shoe factories in northern Portugal were subjected to psychosocial risk assessment, using COPSOQ II. Results show that diverse psychosocial factors are detrimental to workers’ health and well-being, namely: work pace, cognitive demands, emotional demands, influence and job insecurity. This negative exposure requires urgent psychosocial and organizational interventions in order to reduce the malicious effects of the work context on employees’ health. The results provide meaningful and important information about the footwear industry specific psychosocial risk factors and their impact on health and well-being. Preventive measures should be taken in order to improve health at work.
