• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.220-226
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• 2022

Background: Research on the impact of psychosocial risks on well-being at work remains scarce in low- and middle-income countries, especially in the banking sector. This study sought to examine the relationships between job demands, job resources, well-being, job satisfaction, and work engagement in the Zimbabwean banking sector. Methods: An online survey was administered to 259 employees from five banks. Hierarchical multiple regression tested the relationships between job demands (quantitative demands, emotional demands, work pace, and work-family conflict), job resources (possibilities for development, social support from colleagues and supervisors, quality of leadership, and influence at work), well-being, work engagement, and job satisfaction. Interactions between all variables were tested. Results: Job demands were negatively related to well-being, work engagement, and job satisfaction. Job resources had positive relationships with the same. Work pace had positive relationships with well-being and work engagement. Influence at work moderated the relationship between emotional demands and work pace with well-being. Possibilities for development moderated the relationship between work-family conflict and well-being. Work-family conflict moderated the relationship between social support from colleagues and job satisfaction. Emotional demands, work pace, and quantitative demands moderated the relationship between influence at work with job satisfaction and work engagement. Conclusion: Job demands should be reduced where possible in order to enhance employee well-being, work engagement, and job satisfaction. The job resources that should be availed to facilitate a positive psychosocial work environment in the banking sector include social support from supervisors, influence at work, and possibilities for development.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.354-362
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• 2016

Background: The present study aims at investigating whether and how (1) job demands and job resources are associated with work-to-private-life interference (WLI) and (2) job resources moderate the relationship between job demands and WLI. Methods: Data were collected by a self-report questionnaire from three hospitals in Italy. The sample consisted of 889 health-care workers. Results: All job demands (i.e., quantitative demands, disproportionate patient expectations, and verbal aggression) and job resources (i.e., job autonomy, support from superiors and colleagues, fairness, and organizational support), with the exception of skill discretion, were related to WLI. The effects of quantitative demands on WLI were moderated by support from superiors; fairness and organizational support moderate the effects of all job demands considered. Support from colleagues moderated only verbal aggression. Job autonomy did not buffer any job demands. Conclusion: The present study suggests that the work context has a central importance in relation to the experience of WLI among health-care workers. The results indicated that intervention in the work context may help to contain WLI. Such interventions would especially be aimed at improving the social climate within the unit and quality of the organizational process.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing Administration
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.119-128
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• 2016

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship among work environment of nursing, nursing organizational culture, demands at work and the emotional labor in clinical nurses. Methods: A convenience sample of 241 registered nurses was obtained from two hospitals. Data were collected by a self-administered questionnaire during December, 2014. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test, one-way ANOVA, Pearson correlations and multiple regression with SPSS/WIN 21.0. Results: The mean score for emotional labor was $3.36{\pm}0.48$, for work environment of nursing, $2.44{\pm}0.36$, and for innovational-orientation, $2.95{\pm}0.56$: Relation-orientation, $3.34{\pm}0.62$, Task-orientation, $2.95{\pm}0.53$, and hierarchy-orientation, $3.41{\pm}0.49$, The score for quantitative demands was $3.02{\pm}0.56$, and for work pace, $3.76{\pm}0.76$. In multivariate analysis, factors related to emotional labor were work environment of nursing, innovational-orientation and work pace. Conclusion: Findings from this study indicate the need to evaluate and improve the work environment for nurses to decrease emotional labor.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.213-219
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• 2022

Objective: The Job Demand & Resources model suggests work characteristics are related to mental well-being and work engagement. Previous work describes the development of a combined construct 'engaged well-being at work' (EWB). To what extent changes in measures of this construct are responsive to changes in job demands and resources or associated with changes in job-related attitudes has not been established. Methods: Longitudinal employee-level data from three waves (German Linked Personnel Panel) were used. Logistic and linear fixed effects regression analyses explored longitudinal associations between changes in EWB for participants over a three-year period with changes in job demands and resources and job-related attitudes (job commitment, satisfaction, and turnover intentions). Results: While job resources were associated with increased odds for a change into a healthier and/or more engaged category of EWB, job demands reduced them. Job resources were more strongly related to higher EWB (OR_range = 1.22 - 1.61) than job demands (OR_range = 0.79 - 0.96). Especially psychological job demands showed negative associations with improved EWB (OR = 0.79). A change from the least desirable category 'disengaged strain' to any other category of EWB was associated with greater odds by up to 20.6 % for increased commitment and job satisfaction and lower odds for turnover intentions. Discussion: Improving work characteristics, especially job resources, could increase employees' EWB, emphasizing the importance of job characteristics for a healthy workplace. Because EWB seems to be associated with job attitudes, an improvement of this indicator would be relevant for employees and employers.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.356-363
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• 2017

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate which physical and psychosocial work demands were associated with excellent work ability in individuals with neck pain, and to investigate age and sex differences in these associations. Methods: The study sample was obtained from the Statistics Sweden cross-sectional Work Environment survey and consisted of workers who reported neck pain after work (N = 3,212). Results: The findings showed an association between excellent work ability and self-reported low exposure to lifting, twisted work posture, working with hands in shoulder level or higher, and leaning forward without support and combination of exposures containing these work demands. Low exposure to seated work and high demands showed a reversed association. The associations were present mainly among older workers and were generally stronger for men than for women. Conclusion: This study indicates that a lower level of physically demanding work is an important element to maintain excellent work ability, especially for the older worker with neck pain.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.425-430
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• 2023

Background: It is acknowledged that legislation acts as a motivator for organizational action on psychosocial risks. Our study aims to provide evidence on the relationship between key occupational safety and health (OSH) policy principles and organizational action on work-related stress, and, in turn, with reported employee job demands and resources and their experience of work-related stress. We focus on Italy where specific legislation and practices on work-related stress were introduced in 2008 which are underpinned by these key OSH policy principles. Methods: Secondary analysis of the Italian samples from the employer ESENER-2 and employee 6th EWCS surveys was conducted, using path analysis in structural equation modeling (SEM) linking the two datasets. Results: We found a strong statistically significant relationship between OSH policy principles and organizational action on work-related stress (C.I. = .62-.78 p < .001). The existence of an organizational action plan on work-related stress was found to be significantly associated with more reported job resources (C.I. = .02-.24, p < .05) but these were not found to be significantly associated with less work-related stress. No significant association was found between having an organizational action plan for work-related stress and reported job demands. However, job demands were significantly related to reported work-related stress (C.I. = .27-.47, p < .001). Conclusions: Findings add support to the call for specific legislation on work-related psychosocial risks and highlight how an organizational OSH culture underpinned by key OSH principles, and awareness/competence development on psychosocial risk management can have a positive effect on organizational action. However, further support needs to be provided to organizations around developing primary prevention interventions at the organizational level with the aim of reducing job demands.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.165-167
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• 2014

The Dutch construction industry has introduced a compulsory preemployment medical examination (PE-ME). Best-evidence contents related to specific job demands are, however, lacking and need to be gathered. After the identification of job demands and health problems in the construction industry (systematic literature search and expert meeting), specific job demands and related requirements were defined and instruments proposed. Finally, a work ability assessment was linked to the instruments' outcomes, resulting in the modular character of the developed PE-ME. Twenty-two specific job demands for all Dutch construction jobs were identified, including kneeling/squatting, working under time pressure, and exposure to hazardous substances. The next step was proposing self-report questions, screening questionnaires, clinical tests, and/or performance-based tests, leading to a work ability judgment. "Lifting/carrying" is described as an example. The new modular PE-ME enables a job-specific assessment of work ability to be made for more than 100 jobs in the Dutch construction industry.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.158-166
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• 2010

Objectives: This study aimed to find gender distinctions in terms of the sociology of the population; to determine work-related factors; to analyze gender differences in daily living, work, sports, and art performances; and to identify gender-related factors that limited performance of daily living and work activities. Methods: A questionnaire was designed that included disabilities of the arm, shoulder, and hand (DASH), accident history, disease history, work duration at current workplace, marital status, job satisfaction, job autonomy, and physical demands of the job. Out of 1,853 workers surveyed, 1,173 questionnaires (63.3%; 987 males, 186 females) included responses to DASH disability and DASH optional work and were judged acceptable for analysis. Results: Upper extremity functional limitation during work and daily living was higher for females than males. The limitations for males increased according to their household work time, accident history, work duration, job satisfaction, physical demand, and job autonomy. Meanwhile, female workers' upper extremity discomfort was influenced by their disease history, job satisfaction, and physical demands. In addition, the size of the company affected male workers' upper extremity function, while marriage and hobbies influenced that of female workers. Conclusion: This study addressed sociodemographic factors and work-related factors that affect each gender's upper extremity function during daily living and working activities. Each factor had a different influence. Further studies are needed to identify the effect that role changes, not being influenced by risks at work, have on musculoskeletal disorders.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.272-282
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• 2004

Stress is a primary health promotion issue in worksite research because psychological distress is closely related not only to workers　 health status but also to their job performance. This study identified the work environment and work condition factors affecting workers　 stress symptoms among the Korean manufacturing factory workers. A total of 7,818 factory workers employed in 1,562 manufacturing companies participated in the Korean nation-wide occupational health survey conducted by the Korean Occupational Safety and Health Agency in 2003. Participants were selected by the stratified proportional sampling process by standardized industry classification, company size, and locations. Trained interviewers visited the target companies and interviewed the factory workers randomly selected in each company. Work environments included physical work environments (temperature, noise, hazardous organic compounds, and so on) and psychological work environments (job demands, job control, and social support at work), and work conditions included daily working hour, rest time, and so on. Men were 71.5% and the mean age was 34.0 years old. The average working period in the present company was 6.9 years. The average stress score was 26.2 under the perfect score, 50, which means the moderate level of stress. Perceived stress had significant correlations with young age, poor physical work environment, high fatigue, bad perceived health status, and high job demands in Pearson's simple correlation analysis. Perceived health status and perceived fatigue explained 21% variance of stress symptoms and the work environment factor explained 4.8% of that; however, work condition did not have the sufficient effect. In particular, psychosocial work environment variables (job demand, job control, and social support at work) had a clear effect on stress symptoms rather than the physical work environments. Poor perceived health status, severe perceived fatigue, poor physical work environment, high job demands, low social support, heavy alcohol consumption and little exercise were significantly related to high stress symptoms in the Korean manufacturing workers.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.224-228
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• 2019

Background: European policymakers encourage individuals to become self-employed because it is a way to promote innovation and job creation. It can be assumed that health and well-being among the self-employed and managers in small-scale enterprises are particularly crucial in this enterprise group because the smallness of the enterprise makes its members vulnerable. Earlier studies have indicated that the self-employed have a high working pace and work for long and irregular hours, indicating that it can be difficult to stay at home because of sickness. The purpose of this study is to investigate the occurrence of sickness presenteeism among the self-employed in relation to the organizationally employed and to analyze whether any differences can be explained by higher work demands among the self-employed. Methods: The study is based on the fifth European survey on working conditions (2010) and includes the northwestern European countries in the survey. The questions cover a wide range of topics designed to meet the European Union's political needs. The main variables in this study are sickness presenteeism and several indicators of time demands. Results: The results show that the self-employed report a higher level of sickness presenteeism than the employed: 52.4 versus 43.6%. All indicators of time demands are significantly related to the risk for sickness presenteeism, also when controlling for background characteristics. Conclusion: The results confirm that the level of sickness presenteeism is higher among the self-employed and that high time demands are a major explanation to this.