INFLUENCE OF HEALTH ON THE WORK PERFORMANCE OF RASPBERRY PICKERS: A PILOT STUDY

Abstract

Raspberry pickers are a specific group of agricultural workers whose labor conditions have received limited attention in research. Their working conditions, the health problems they face, and the factors affecting their performance remain scarcely explored. The aim of this pilot study was to analyze the relationship between farmworkers’ self-perceived health status and their work performance, measured by the number of buckets harvested and the income derived from piece-rate work. Data were collected through a daily self-evaluation survey administered to a group of pickers over 53 harvest days. Workers’ perceived health status was recorded at the beginning, during, and at the end of each workday, along with the number of buckets harvested per day. Simple correlation analysis yielded an r coefficient of 0.66, corresponding to a determination coefficient (R2) of 0.44, indicating a moderate relationship between self-perceived health status and work performance. The results showed that poorer self-perceived health status was associated with a 21 % reduction in the number of buckets harvested relative to the group average. This reduction led to income differences of up to 35 % between the most and least productive pickers. These findings highlight the impact of health on both productivity and income among these workers. For future research, studies with larger samples and models incorporating additional factors are recommended to further clarify the relationship between health and productivity in this type of work.