• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.454-461
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• 2018

Background: Working conditions and psychosocial work factors have acquired an important role explaining the well-being and performance of professional drivers, including those working in the field of public transport. This study aimed to examine the association between job strain and the operational performance of public transport drivers and to compare the expositions with psychosocial risk at work of three different types of transport workers: taxi drivers, city bus drivers, and interurban bus drivers. Method: A sample of 780 professional drivers was drawn from three transport companies in Bogota (Colombia). The participants answered the Job Content Questionnaire and a set of sociodemographic and driving performance questions, including age, professional driving experience, work schedules, and accidents and penalties suffered in the last 2 years. Results: Analyses showed significant associations between measures of socio-labor variables and key performance indicators such road traffic accidents and penalties. Furthermore, multiple linear regression analysis contributed to explain significantly suffered accidents from key variables of the Job Demand-Control model, essentially from job strain. In addition, throughout post-hoc analyses, significant differences were found in terms of perceived social support, job strain, and job insecurity. Conclusion: Work stress is an issue that compromises the safety of professional drivers. This research provides evidence supporting a significant effect of job strain on the professional driver's performance. Moreover, the statistically significant differences between taxi drivers, city bus drivers, and interurban bus drivers in their expositions to work-related stress suggest the need for tailored occupational safety interventions on each occupational group.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.25-37
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• 2005

Objective : To estimate the magnitude of psychosocial distress and examine eligible factors associated with the development of psychosocial distress in Korean employees, using a nationwide sample. Methods : A total of 6,977 workers were recruited from 245 companies. A structured questionnaire was used to assess sociodemographics, health-related behaviors, job characteristics, social support at work, personality traits (locus of control, type A behavior pattern), self-esteem, and psychosocial distress. Results : The results showed that 23 % of workers were categorized as high stress, 73% as moderate, and 5% as normal. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis showed that psychosocial distress was more common in younger workers, both male and female. Regular exercise was negatively associated with increase of psychosocial distress. In job characteristics, as expected, low decision latitude, high job insecurity, and low social support at work were related to high psychosocial distress. Personality traits such as locus of control and type A behavior pattern, and self-esteem were more powerful predictors of psychosocial distress than general characteristics, health-related behavior, and job characteristics. There were some gender differences. While men who are less educated and single (unmarried, divorced, and separated) experienced higher levels of psychosocial distress than those who are educated and married, women who feel high job demand experienced higher levels of psychosocial distress than those who feel low job demand. Conclusions : The proportion of the high stress group was higher than expected, and psychosocial factors like social support and personality characteristics (e. g. locus of control, type A behavior pattern and self-esteem) were more significant factors for psychosocial distress than other variables. This finding suggests that some psychosocial factors, especially inadequate social support, low self-esteem and lack of internal locus of control for the development of psychosocial distress, will also operate as an intervention strategy in the worksite stress reduction program. It is strongly required that worksite stress reduction programs should be established in at both occupational and level as well as in individual levels.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.370-376
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• 2021

Backround: Working condition surveys are widely recognized as useful tools for monitoring the quality of working life and the improvements introduced by health and safety policy frameworks at the European and national level. The Italian Workers' Compensation Authority carried out a national survey (Insula) to investigate the employer's perceptions related to working conditions and their impact on health. Methods: The present study is based on the data collected from the Italian survey on health and safety at work (INSULA) conducted on a representative sample of the Italian workforce (n = 8,000). This focuses on the relationship between psychosocial risk factors and self-reported health using a set of logistic and linear regression models. Results: Working conditions such as managerial support, job satisfaction, and role act as protective factors on mental and physical health. On the contrary, workers' risk perceptions related to personal exposure to occupational safety and health risks, concern about health conditions, and work-related stress risk exposure determine a poorer state of health. Conclusions: This study highlights the link between working conditions and self-report health, and this aims to provide a contribution in the field of health at work. Findings show that working conditions must be object of specific preventive measures to improve the workers' health and well-being.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.211-221
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• 2018

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to identify work-related risk factors associated with upper extremity symptoms among construction workers using the fourth Korean Working Condition Survey(KWCS). Methods: Subjects were 2,724 construction workers selected from 50,007 respondents in the 2014 KWCS. The presence or absence of upper extremity symptoms and work-related risk factors, including individual, physical, and psychosocial factors, were used as variables. A multiple logistic regression analysis was performed in order to evaluate the relationship of the upper extremity symptoms with work-related risk factors. Results: Upper extremity symptoms were significantly associated with: employment type(OR: 1.57, 95% CI: 1.18~2.09); job satisfaction(OR: 2.06, 95% CI: 1.33~3.18); verbal abuse(OR: 2.06, 95% CI: 1.33~3.18); tiring or painful posture(OR: 2.33, 95% CI: 1.73~3.15); carrying or moving heavy loads(OR: 1.68, 95% CI: 1.23~2.24); repetitive hand or arm movement(OR: 1.42, 95% CI: 1.06~1.91) Conclusions: In order to prevent the upper extremity musculoskeletal disease in the construction industry, it is necessary to stabilize employment, enhance job satisfaction, and eliminate violence in the workplace and improve physical work environment.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.15 no.9
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• pp.5610-5620
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• 2014

This study was conducted to determine the levels of job stress, as well as its association with psychosocial factors (type A behavior pattern, locus of control, and self-esteem). Self-administered questionnaires were given to 634 clerical public officers in the C Provincial Office between February 18 and Mar. 10, 2013. As a result, the job stress levels of the subjects was significantly different according to age, sex, educational level, marital status, job position, job career, satisfaction in job life, smoking, alcohol drinking, sleeping time, type A behavior pattern, locus of control, and self-esteem. Regarding the correlation of job stress and psychosocial factors, the level of job demand was negatively correlated with the internal locus of control. The decision latitude was negatively correlated with the type A behavior pattern, internal locus of control and self-esteem. Supervisor support was negatively correlated with the external locus of control. In hierarchial multiple regression analysis, the affecting factors to the job stress selected variables, such as age, subjective health status, job position, overtime work, experience of sick absence, satisfaction in work, sleeping time, leisure time, visiting out-patient department, type A behavior pattern, locus of control, and self-esteem, and the explanatory powers of these factors was 32.1%. In particular, the factors related to the psychosocial factors (type A behavior pattern, locus of control, self-esteem) were strongly related to the job stress, increasing the explanation of factors up to 15.0%.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.301-311
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• 2011

This study was performed to determine the self-perceived fatigue and its association with job stress contents and psychosocial factors among white collar male workers. The self-administered questionnaires were given to 872 workers employed in 42 work places during the period from February 1st to April 30th, 2009. As a results, in terms of levels of self-perceived fatigue according to the job stress contents and psychosocial factors, under significantly higher level of self-perceived fatigue were those with higher level of job demand, lower job autonomy, lower supervisor support and higher locus of control than their respective counterparts. Multiple stepwise analysis revealed that the factors of influence on self-perceived fatigue included age, subjective status of health, job career, experience of sick absence, sense of satisfaction in work, regular exercise, sleeping hours, visiting out-patient department, job demand, supervisor support and self-esteem. The study results indicated that the level of self-perceived fatigue is so complicatedly influenced by variable factors as well as socio-demographic characteristics, job-related characteristics and health-related behaviors, to a greater extent, by JCQ and psychosocial factors.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.405-422
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• 2010

Occupational musculoskeletal disorders currently account for the largest proportion of the occupational illnesses in Korea. In this research, status of musculoskeletal disorders among the occupational illnesses was examined through workers' compensation claims data. Types and characteristics of musculoskeletal disorders were looked at other data set as well. The data sets included epidemiological investigation data reported by Occupational Safety and Health Research Institute, and data collected from occupational disease surveillance reports and Korean occupational health-related scientific journals. Number of cases, incidence rate and insurance benefits for occupational musculoskeletal disorders in Korea are increasing every year. In addition, musculoskeletal disorders occurrence is shifted from large enterprises group to small-and-medium group, from manufacturing to service sector, and from production workers to office and professional workers. Although low back pain is still most common, its occurrence characteristics is gradually shifted from traumatic to cumulative while musculoskeletal disorders are somewhat seemingly moved from lumbar to upper limb body part. Musculoskeletal disorders were observed to be more diverse and prevalent in epidemiological investigations or surveillance data rather in workers' compensation claims data. Musculoskeletal disorders occurrence is related to demographic factors, occupational psychosocial factors, and ergonomic risk factors at workplace for which appropriate preventive measures needed to be made accordingly.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.35-38
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• 2015

Background: Organizational changes that involve healthcare hospital departments and care services of health districts, and ongoing technological innovations and developments in society increasingly expose healthcare workers (HCWs) to work-related stress (WRS). Minimizing occupational exposure to stress requires effective risk stress assessment and management programs. Methods: The authors conducted an integrated analysis of stress sentinel indicators, an integrated analysis of objective stress factors of occupational context and content areas, and an integrated analysis between nurses and physicians of hospital departments and care services of health districts in accordance with a multidimensional validated tool developed in Italy by the National Network for the Prevention of Work-Related Psychosocial Disorders. The purpose of this retrospective observational study was to detect and analyze in different work settings the level of WRS resulting from organizational changes implemented by hospital healthcare departments and care services of health districts in a sample of their employees. Results: The findings of the study showed that hospital HCWs seemed to incur a medium level risk of WRS that was principally the result of work context factors. The implementation of improvement interventions focused on team development, safety training programs, and adopting an ethics code for HCWs, and it effectively and significantly reduced the level of WRS risk in the workplace. Conclusion: In this study HCW resulted to be exposed to occupational stress factors susceptible to reduction. Stress management programs aimed to improve work context factors associated with occupational stress are required to minimize the impact of WRS on workers.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.11-26
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• 2008

Objectives: We evaluated the level of psychosocial stresses and fatigue symptoms among clerical public officers and its related factors.Methods: The self-administered questionaires were performed, during the period between Dec. 5th, 2005 Metropolitan City. The survey items included subjects' socio-demographic and job-related characteristics, health-related behavior, degree of job demand, job autonomy, social support in work, type A behavior pattern, locus of control, sense of self-esteem, psychosocial distress and degree of fatigue.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing Administration
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.461-470
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• 2016

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the effect of nurses' psycho-social health and social support from colleagues on patient caring ability. Methods: A cross-sectional survey design was used and the participants in this study were 422 nurses from 3 general hospitals. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire and collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, Pearson correlation coefficients and multiple regression analysis with the SAS 9.4 program. Results: Total mean score for psychosocial health was $3.15{\pm}0.57$, for social support from colleagues, $3.43{\pm}0.55$, and for caring ability, $4.04{\pm}0.53$. Psychosocial health, social support from colleagues, and married status were identified as significant factors influencing patient caring ability. Conclusion: Findings from this study indicate that psychosocial health and social support from colleagues are related to patient caring ability, and thus, to improve nurses' caring ability for patient and for self, it is important to create a work environment that keeps nurses healthy and promotes collaboration with colleagues.