Forty one of the 44 respondents (93%) responded to this question. Of the 41 respondents, the majority, 30 (74%) were African, while only 1 (2%) was coloured. The remainder of the participants were of White or Asian origin, 12% respectively (table 4.11).
Table 4 . 1 1 : Race of participants in case 4 Race of r e s p o n d e n t s
Coloured African Whites Asian T o t a l
F r e q u e n c y 1 30 5 5 4 1
P e r c e n t (°/o) 2 % 7 4 % 1 2 % 1 2 % 1 0 0 %
Job types
Forty two (96%) respondents responded to this question. Of these 42 respondents, 20 (48%) were in non-management positions, while only 8 (19%) were in management positions. The remaining 14 (33%) respondents indicated their level of employment as "other" but did not explain these levels of employment (table 4.12).
Only 29 of the 44 respondents (65%) responded to the question on occupations. Occupations were categorized into "Elementary", "Technicians & associated professionals", "Craft &
related trade workers", "Legislators, senior officials and managers" and "others". The category
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of elementary employees in this organization comprised general assistants, technicians and associated professionals were technicians and electricians, while craft & related trade workers comprised artisans, fitters, turners, trade hands and grinders. Fifteen (52%) respondents were in the category of craft and related trade workers, while six respondents (21%) were in
management positions. One respondent (3%) was classified as "other" as this respondent did not clearly state his/her occupation, but just wrote "coordinator" (table 4.12).
Table 4.12: Job types in case 4 Job Types
Level of employment
Medium management level Lower management level Non-management position Other
Total
Occupations Elementary Technicians & associated
professionals
Craft & related trade workers Legislators, senior officials and
managers Others Total
Frequency
1 7 20^
14
42 3 4 15
6 1 29
Percent ( % )
2%
17%
48%
33%
10%
14%
52%
2 1 % 3%
1 0 0 %
Job status
A total of 23 out of 44 respondents (52%) responded to this question. Of the 23 respondents, 20 (87%) were employed permanently while the remaining 3 (13%) were employed as contract workers.
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Period of employment
All 44 respondents responded to this question. Fifty percent of the respondents (22) had been employed in this organization for a period between 1 and 5 years. Fifteen (34%) had been employed for more than 10 years in this organization. Only 1 (2%) respondent had been
employed for less than a year, while 6 (14%) had been employed for a period between 6 and 10 years.
Educational level
All 44 respondents responded to this question. Analyzed data revealed that 17 (39%) of respondents had attained senior secondary education while only 2 (4%) had no formal education. Fourteen (32%) respondents had completed tertiary education (table 4.13).
Table 4 . 1 3 : Highest level of education in case 4 Level of education
no formal education Primary education
Junior secondary education Senior secondary education Tertiary education
Total
Frequency 2 7 4 17 14 4 4
Percent ( % )
4%
16%
9 % 39%
32%
1 0 0 %
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Organizational Characteristics
All four categories of respondents were asked questions relating to this section.
Organizational type
Both managers and the occupational health practitioner classified the organization as a parastatal because it was owned by the government but also had private stakeholders.
Organizational size
In this case both managers indicated that there were between 1000 and 1100 employees.
Risk level and type
Both managers classified this case as a high risk organization. The reason for classifying this organization as a high risk one was because it is an engineering company and this, according to these managers, resulted in employees being involved in various work related risks.
"It is a high risk environment, because it is an engineering company. People have to lift machines (ergonomics) causing back problems, welding causes occupational disease due to dust, chest or lung problems are caused by chemicals and we use a lot of paint" (Ml).
"It is a high risk organization -health related risks because it is an engineering company. We have quite a number of risks in this organization because some of them drive hysters and it can cause fatalities. There are chemicals being used, people can sustain back injuries because they do a lot of
lifting" (M2)
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Medical Aid benefit
In total only two trade union representatives (one from each focus group) were not members of medical aid. The other 8 participants were members of the company medical aid. The reasons for not being members were given as the system was not working for them.
"Because I was paying too much money, R500, but when I go to the doctor, lam told I have no money, and my medical aid ran out easily " (FG 1).
"The problem is that the medical aid offered by the company is not accepted in the clinics we use. I end up having a problem not getting medication in the pharmacies too. I am now using my wife's medical Aid" (FG 2).
Other participants indicated that the majority of employees were on medical scheme of their choice. The company offered a wide range of medical aid schemes where employees could select one which was suitable for them.
"There are different types of plans within the organization.lt 's your choice which one you want to belong to, maybe his was a different one but almost everyone is a member" (FG 1).
"It depends on which plan you are because with some plans, you can see the doctor as much as you want but others are not like that" (FG I).
Both managers indicated that employees in this case had to choose a plan of medical aid that suited them best. There was a list available from which they could choose one scheme. The
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Company provided medical aid to all full time employees. Employees who were not on medical aid were attended to at the PHC clinic. Health promotion was not covered by medical aid.
"We do have medical aid covering most of the diseases but not on health promotion issues. We have Lifestyle management program whereby the company pays for HIV related expenses. Primary health care related issues are seen by our occupational health sister or the doctor at the clinic "(Ml).
From the employee quantitative data, 43 out of 44 respondents (98%) responded to this question. 43 respondents, 23 (54%) were members of a medical aid scheme while the
remaining 20 (46%) respondents were non-members. All 20 (100%) respondents who were not members of a medical aid scheme responded to the question on the reason for not being
members. Twelve (60%) respondents indicated that they were not members because they were not permanently employed in this organization. The remaining 8 (40%) gave varying reasons for their non membership. These reasons included "it is too expensive (15%) and "I am still going to join."
Table 4.14: Reasons for non membership to medical aid scheme Reasons for non-membership
It is too expensive to contribute I don't know about medical aid benefit Not on permanent staff
Belong to Private Medical Aid Still going to join medical aid Don't need Medical Aid Total
Frequency 3 1 12 1 2 1 20
Percent ( % ) 15%
5%
60%
5%
10%
5%
1 0 0 %
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