Safety representatives' views on their interaction with workers in a context of unequal power relations: an exploratory qualitative study in Barcelona (Spain).

BACKGROUND The interaction between workers and safety representatives (SRs), a factor that determines SRs' effectiveness, is an unexplored issue within occupational health research. METHODS We undertook a qualitative exploratory interpretative-descriptive study by means of semi-structured interviews with SRs from Barcelona (Spain) to analyze the SRs' perspective on the interaction with workers and its determinants RESULTS SRs' interaction with workers is mainly limited to information processes and to identifying occupational hazards. Prominent factors determining this interaction are associated with the way SRs understand and carry out their role, the firm sector and size, and workers' fear of dismissal, exacerbated by changes in the labor market and the current economic crisis. CONCLUSIONS Interaction with workers is influenced by a more prevalent technical-legal view of the SRs' role and by unequal power relations between workers and management. Poor interaction with workers might lead to decreasing SRs' effectiveness.