Stress management in the workplace in the era of industrial and economic change]

The globalization of the economy and the recent economic recession in Japan has accelerated down-sizing or restructuring of corporations and has resulted in the induction of a wage system according to achievement instead of the traditional seniority wage system, break-down of the life-long employment system, excess labor and increased unemployment. These rapid changes in the labor situation have increased job stress. It was reported in the survey conducted by the Ministry of Labor in 1997 that 62.8 percent of 16,000 workers had anxiety, worry and stress regarding their working life. The need for effective stress management at work has been increasing in this situation, but in the survey mentioned above only 26.5 percent of 12,000 companies replied that they had incorporated mental health measures. The characteristic features of the approaches for stress management in Japan are summarized as follows: 1) The most popular approaches are education and consultation for individual workers. 2) Systematic preventive approaches such as work control, working environment control, organizational change in the health management system, and systematic and continuous educational programs for managers are inadequate. 3) Systems to evaluation the effectiveness of these interventional approaches are also inadequate. Considering the current situation in which there is increasing job stress and a need for the occupational mental health promotion, we propose a series of mini-reviews regarding stress management at work and mention the composition of this series.     

重庆市925名机械制造业女工职业压力现状及影响因素分析

目的 分析重庆市机械制造业女工职业压力现状及影响因素,促进女性职工身心健康。方法 采用随机整群抽样方法,选取重庆市两家机械制造业的925名女工为研究对象,使用中国疾病预防控制中心编制的《女工职业健康专项调查问卷》调查其职业压力状况,采用多元线性回归方法来分析其职业压力的主要影响因素。结果 被调查的925名女工中有843人（占91.1%）存在一定程度的职业压力,其中有轻度职业压力641人（占69.3%）,中度职业压力196人（占21.2%）,重度职业压力6人（占0.7%）。多元线性回归分析结果显示：分别相比初中及以下文化程度、年收入<3万元、工龄<10年、长时间站立的女工,文化程度为高中或中专、个人年收入大于10万、工龄在10～20年和可随意调整工作体位的女工职业压力得分较低（β=-0.690～-5.583,P <0.01）;相比白班作业,工作形式为夜班的女工职业压力得分相对较高（β=0.752,P <0.05）。结论 机械制造业女工普遍存在一定程度的职业压力,相关部门应当做好企业监管,创造良好的工作环境和社会支持环境,提高职业待遇,有效缓解机械制造业女工的职业压...     

Job stress, social support, and prevalence of insomnia in a population of Japanese daytime workers

To clarify the relationship between perceived job stress, social support and prevalence of insomnia in Japanese daytime workers, 1161 male white-collar employees of an electric equipment manufacturing company (age, 23-60 years, mean age of 37.0) were surveyed by means of a mailed questionnaire. Perceived job stress was evaluated with the Japanese version of the generic NIOSH job stress questionnaire. Insomnia was diagnosed if workers had at least 1 of 3 types of symptoms on an almost nightly basis. The symptoms were (1) taking more than 30 min to fall asleep (Difficulty Initiating Sleep, DIS), (2) difficulty in maintaining sleep (DMS), or (3) early morning awakening (EMA). The overall prevalence of insomnia was 23.6% and the prevalences of the three subtypes were 11.3% for DIS, 14.2% for DMS, and 1.9% for EMA. Workers with high intragroup conflict (OR 1.6), high job dissatisfaction (OR 1.5), and high symptoms of depression (OR 2.0) (CES-D > 16) had a significantly increased risk for insomnia after adjusting for multiple confounding factors. Low employment opportunities, physical environment and low coworker support also were weakly associated with risk for insomnia among workers. Furthermore, high depressive symptoms significantly increased the risk of DIS (OR 2.4). Therefore in white-collar male daytime workers, psychological job stress factors such as interpersonal conflicts with fellow employees, job satisfaction, and social support were independently associated with a modestly increased risk of insomnia that included three different subtypes that were considered to be defining for the disorder.     

Organizational work factors among workers and supervisors in export processing zones which support global markets

This is an investigation of the interaction between organizational and management factors at work for both workers and supervisors in the manufacturing sector. Survey was done in a sample consisted of 23 establishments, 630 workers, and 47 supervisors, meanwhile 10 focus group discussions (FGDs) for workers, and 5 FGDs for supervisors. Workers and supervisors alike reported illnesses and job dissatisfaction. Survey showed that the most prevalent issues among workers were: the need to upgrade skills (76.3%), pressured in doing work (60.5%), fast paced work (60.5%), repetitive work (63%), and that work is both physically and mentally tiring (59.7%). On the other hand, supervisors described their work as challenging and stimulating (66%), needed regular upgrading of skills (46.8%), and needed literacy on information technology (31.9%). Focus group discussions showed that workers and supervisors were confronted with stress, fast-paced work, the need to upgrade skills due to accommodation of information technology into the work production, fatigue, re-engineering and downsizing by management, low job control and difficult worker-supervisor relationship. This study was able to show that health of workers and supervisors were affected by both organizational and management factors at work.     

The Effect of a Job Placement and Support Program for Workers with Musculoskeletal Injuries: A Randomized Control Trial (RCT) Study

Background This is a randomized clinical trial (RCT) to investigate the efficacy of a job placement and support program designed for workers with musculoskeletal injuries and having difficulties in resuming the work role. The program was planned to help injured workers to successfully return to work (RTW) by overcoming the difficulties and problems during the process of job seeking and sustaining a job using a case management approach. Methodology A total of 66 injured workers were recruited and randomly assigned into the job placement and support group (PS group) or the self-placement group (SP group). A three-week job placement and support program was given to subjects in the PS group while subjects in the control group (SP group) were only given advice on job placement at a workers' health center. The PS program was comprised of an individual interview, vocational counseling, job preparation training, and assisted placement using the case management approach. The Chinese Lam Assessment of Stages of Employment Readiness (C-LASER), the Chinese State Trait and Anxiety Inventory (C-STAI), and the SF-36 were the outcome measures for the two groups before and after the training program to observe the changes in subjects' work readiness status, emotional status and their health related quality of life pre- and post-training program. The rate of return to work was measured for both groups of subjects after the training program. Results The results indicated that the rate of success in RTW (73%) was significantly higher in the job placement (PS) group than that of the self-placement (SP) group (51.6%) with P < 0.05. Significant differences were also found in C-STAI (P < 0.05), SF-36 (P < 0.05) and C-LASER scores on action (P < 0.05) between the two groups. Conclusion The job placement (PS) program appeared to have enhanced the employability of injured workers. Workers who participated in the program also showed higher levels of work readiness and emotional status in coping with their work injuries.     

The perceptions of the personal and professional factors influencing social workers in Saudi hospitals: a qualitative analysis

The perceptions of 10 social workers regarding the personal and professional characteristics influencing their practice at Saudi hospitals were examined using semi-structured interviews. A qualitative analysis employing a thematic approach informed by grounded theory was undertaken and produced three broad interrelated themes: "skills upgrading," "departmental support," and "personal experience in the workplace," which subsequently informed the development of the overarching theme of "personal and professional factors." The discussion illustrates social work practitioners are inhibited from effectively performing their roles. These include: (a) Deficiencies related to job training and professional skills updating where there is a lack of efficient and accessible inservice training programs, especially in relation to practical issues. Further, these perceptions relate to a lack of long-term educational opportunities that impact on individual practitioner's currency of skills, techniques and pedagogy enabling/disenabling him/her to excel at his/her job, (b) Obvious bureaucracy within the controlling hierarchy and difficulty with the dissemination of information between the social workers were perceived to detrimentally impact on a practitioner's ability to attend to one's work demands, and (c) Personal day to day work experiences, including counterproductive emotional feelings (high stress), increased dissatisfaction with the job, and ineffective communication within the workplace were seen as limiting the social workers' professional potential. This article will focus on how these themes were addressed in terms of qualitative interview data.     

Does job stress affect injury due to labor accident in Japanese male and female blue-collar workers?

To clarify whether job stressors affecting injury due to labor accidents differ between Japanese male and female blue-collar workers, the Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ), assessing dimensions of job stressors based on the demand-control-support model, was applied to 139 blue-collar workers in a manufacturing factory. Of them, 24 male and 15 female workers suffered from injuries at work. In the female workers with the experience of work injury, the job demand score and job strain index (i.e., the ratio of job demand to job control) of the JCQ were significantly higher and the score of coworker support was significantly lower, than those in the female workers without the experience. High job demand (or, high job strain and low coworker support) was significantly related to work injury in all the female workers. Between the male workers with and without work injury, however, there was no significant difference in any job stressors. This pilot study suggests that high job strain (specifically, high job demand), as well as low coworker support, are important factors affecting work injury in Japanese female blue-collar workers. Further research with a large number of male blue-collar workers will be required to seek other factors that may be associated with work injury.     

The Perceptions of the Personal and Professional Factors Influencing Social Workers in Saudi Hospitals: A Qualitative Analysis

The perceptions of 10 social workers regarding the personal and professional characteristics influencing their practice at Saudi hospitals were examined using semi-structured interviews. A qualitative analysis employing a thematic approach informed by grounded theory was undertaken and produced three broad interrelated themes: “skills upgrading,” “departmental support,” and “personal experience in the workplace,” which subsequently informed the development of the overarching theme of “personal and professional factors.” The discussion illustrates social work practitioners are inhibited from effectively performing their roles. These include: (a) Deficiencies related to job training and professional skills updating where there is a lack of efficient and accessible inservice training programs, especially in relation to practical issues. Further, these perceptions relate to a lack of long-term educational opportunities that impact on individual practitioner's currency of skills, techniques and pedagogy enabling/disenabling him/her to excel at his/her job, (b) Obvious bureaucracy within the controlling hierarchy and difficulty with the dissemination of information between the social workers were perceived to detrimentally impact on a practitioner's ability to attend to one's work demands, and (c) Personal day to day work experiences, including counterproductive emotional feelings (high stress), increased dissatisfaction with the job, and ineffective communication within the workplace were seen as limiting the social workers' professional potential. This article will focus on how these themes were addressed in terms of qualitative interview data.     

Sickness absence in relation to psychosocial work factors among daytime workers in an electric equipment manufacturing company

Associations between psychosocial work factors and sickness absence were investigated in a cross-sectional study of 833 daytime workers. Participants completed a questionnaire regarding psychosocial work factors using the US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Generic Job Stress Questionnaire (job control, quantitative workload, cognitive demands, variance in workload, intragroup conflict, intergroup conflict, supervisor support, coworker support, family support, job satisfaction and depressive symptoms) and the number of days of sickness absence within the previous year. Multivariate analyses of covariance with age and occupation as covariates (MANCOVA) were used to test the relationships between psychosocial work factors and sickness absence stratified by sex. In men, the age-adjusted MANCOVA showed that, quantitative workload was highest in the 0.5-4.5 d of sickness absence group (p<0.001). However, the levels of stress reactions (job satisfaction and depressive symptoms) in this group were almost identical to the levels recorded in the no sickness absence group. In contrast, low levels of job control (p<0.01), supervisor support (p<0.05), and job satisfaction (p<0.01) and higher symptoms of depression (p<0.001) were associated with 5 d or more sickness absence. In women, only high job satisfaction was associated with 5 d or more sickness absence (p<0.10). This study suggests that appropriate use of sickness absence at times of being exposed to high quantitative workload may help male workers to recover from stressful situations.     

近海石油生产工人职业压力与职业性意外伤害关系的探讨

目的　探讨近海石油生产中职业压力等社会心理因素与职业性意外伤害的关系。方法采用横断面设计 ,自填问卷方式 ,对 5 6 1名海上平台作业人员进行调查。内容包括 :一般情况、职业压力、A型性格、社会支持和应对措施等社会心理因素 ,以及过去 1年工作过程中发生意外伤害情况。结果　 76人 (13.5 % )报告过去 1年发生过 1次或 1次以上职业性意外伤害 ,共计 14 1人次 ,其中 18人次严重伤、2 6人次中度伤、97人次轻微伤。控制年龄、文化程度、婚姻状况、海上工作年限和工种等潜在混杂因素后的多因素logistic回归分析表明 ,感受“工作中的管理问题及与同事间的关系”压力越大 ,发生职业性意外伤害的危险性越高 (OR =1.33,95 %CI :1.0 5～ 1.6 8,P <0 .0 5 )。缺乏朋友情感支持者较少报告意外伤害 (OR =0 .37,95 %CI:0 .2 2～ 0 .6 3,P <0 .0 0 1)。结论　提示加强对工人的培训和工作指导 ,提倡同事间的相互合作和支持 ,对降低工作中职业性意外伤害的发生有着重要意义。     

Job characteristics and problems related to home care services for the elderly. A comparison among employment categories in Sapporo

OBJECTIVE: The aims of this study were to describe job characteristics for daytime and shift workers in home care services for the elderly and to clarify health care in the work setting, social support, and job satisfaction and possibilities. METHODS: A self-reported questionnaire was given to 433 home care workers, both full time and part time (more than 15 hours), at 35 institutions that provide home care services to residents of Sapporo (return rate; 80.2%). The following issues were investigated: job content (physical care, assistance with housework, and advice), specialty, job satisfaction, possibilities, job training, health care and social support. The results were compared among employed types: full-time and part-time daytime and shift workers using the t-test or the Fisher's test. RESULTS: The participants demonstrated high dissatisfaction with wages, physical uneasiness themselves and limited social support from their supervisors. Especially full-time workers were dissatisfied with the payment, whereas part-time workers complained about insufficient attention to the prevention of lumbago. It was found that part-time daytime workers were given insufficient on-job-training and education for prevention of infection, and that full-time shift workers greatly wished to leave the employment. However, the home care workers were satisfied with their job itself and expected to continue their work. Furthermore, half of the part-time workers hoped to work full time. CONCLUSIONS: Health management and educational training for part-time workers may be necessary to improve the quality of care services and protection of health. Promotion of full time employment and reconsideration of working condition might be necessary to provide sufficient home care services.     

Relationships of working conditions and individual characteristics to occupational injuries: a case-control study in coal miners

This study assessed the relationship of age, poor perception of working condition, poor safety environment, poor management and supervision, risk-taking behavior, emotional instability, negative job involvement, job dissatisfaction, job stress, and poor safety performance of workers to occupational injuries. This case-control study was conducted on 202 male coal miners with at least one occupational injury during a five-year period and 202 male controls with no occupational injury, matched on the job. A standardized questionnaire administered by individual interviewers was used. Data were analysed by the logistic regression method. For all workers combined, the factors with significant adjusted odds ratios (ORs) found were: 30-45 and >45 yr age groups (OR vs. <30 yr age group: 1.80, 95% CI 1.02-3.17 and 2.59, 1.38-4.85 respectively), poor perception of working conditions (1.61, CI 1.00-3.18), emotional instability (2.33, 1.04-5.22), job stress (1.83, 1.00-3.46) and poor safety performance of workers (3.10, 1.45-6.63). No significant interaction was found between these risk factors and the job. It was concluded that older age, poor perception of work conditions, poor work environment, and human behavioral factors played significant roles in occupational injuries. This information would help in implementing preventive programs to improve working conditions and management quality and to help the workers to develop positive psychological traits, but workers with negative traits such as emotional instability and older workers should be employed in less demanding jobs.     

Factors Explaining the Job Satisfaction of Home Care Workers Who Left Their Older Care Recipients in Israel

There are high levels of turnover among home care workers. The study goal was to examine factors connected with job satisfaction of home care workers who resigned from their jobs. A survey (self-administered questionnaire) was conducted of 197 home care workers who resigned from their jobs with a home care agency in Jerusalem. Overall job satisfaction of the home care workers was low to moderate. Memory impairment of the care recipient and quality of the relationship between the care worker and the care recipient were significant in explaining overall and intrinsic job satisfaction of the workers. Functional status (activities of daily living) and the impact of the care recipient’s cognitive status on the care worker were significant in explaining job benefit satisfaction. Home care workers who provide care to severely disabled and cognitively impaired older persons experience great work stress. They need ongoing support and training as well as better job benefits.     

Occupational accidents in temporary work]

In 2000 in Italy about 470,000 workers found jobs provided by Temporary Work Agencies, i.e., more than twice the number in 1999. Temporary Work is an expanding phenomenon since it well suits the flexibility requirements of business: 77% of Temporary Work is in the manufacturing industry, involving mostly unskilled workers. The young age, low level of qualification, poor training, and lack of knowledge of the working environment are factors that can favour occupational accidents. There are studies that relate the frequency of labour accidents to the level of training and job experience. There are no data in the literature about occupational accidents during temporary work. Our study concerns sixteen temporary work Agencies that employed more than 250,000 manual workers in 2000. From the occupational accident registers of these agencies, we analysed all accidents concerning manual workers employed during 2000, with reference to: the number of accidents with up to three days prognosis, age, sex, nationality, prognosis pattern and cause. The agencies supplied data regarding the number of hours worked during 2000. We considered 5259 accidents: the overall frequency index (FI) was 92.1, with a considerable difference between the three main agencies (87.5) and the others. The mean age accident was 27.8 years, mean duration of sick leave 13.7 days, and the main causes were work tools (51.5%); 76% of the accidents concerned unskilled manual workers. The above indexes are definitely higher than those provided by INAIL (italian compulsory insurances) for the metalworking (38.1), construction (47.7) and mining (58.8) sectors during 1997. There is evidence that temporary work is related to an increased risk of occupational accidents. Further studies are required to confirm this evidence.     

中国近海石油平台作业人员职业压力量表效度与信度的评价

目的评价中国近海石油平台作业人员职业压力量表的效度和信度.方法参照Cooper等的问卷,结合被调查公司的情况,制订了含有51个条目的中国近海石油平台作业人员职业压力量表(Occupational Stress Scale,OSS),并对561名某近海石油公司平台作业人员进行调查.结果51个与近海石油生产相关的职业压力因素经因子分析,识别了9个潜在的公共因子,解释了总变异的62.5%.根据各因子内所含条目描述的内容分别定义为工作与家庭/社会生活(因子1)、仕途与成就(因子2)、人生安全感(因子3)、工作中的管理问题及与同事间的关系(因子4)、工作环境中的物理因素(因子5)、平台生活环境(因子6)、管理角色(因子7)、人体工效因素(因子8)和组织结构(因子9).方差分析结果提示有5个因子得分在12个不同工种间的差异有显著性(P＜0.05).等级回归分析表明,在控制年龄、文化程度等潜在混杂因素后,总职业压力得分与精神健康的关联有极显著性(P＜0.01).职业压力总量表和各个公共因子的内部一致性检验结果,Cronbach's alpha介于0.72～0.91之间.结论OSS是一有效、可靠的职业压力测量工具,可用于中国近海石油工人职业压力与健康、安全问题的研究.     

Acute traumatic injuries in underground bituminous coal miners

Using injury information from the 1986 Mine Safety and Health Administration data-base, and demographic information from a 1986 sample survey of the miner population, acute traumatic injury rates for male workers in underground bituminous coal mines were computed by age, current job experience, and total mine work experience. Three groups of workers assessed in this study showed the highest injury rates: workers aged 15–30 years; workers with between 2 and 3 years of experience; and workers with 10 or more years of experience in the current job. Injury rates decline with age in each time-interval of current job category and each total mine working experience category. Experience per se does not appear to be related to lower injury rates independent of age, which is paradoxical. The interaction of worker age with length of current or total mining experience is complex. The potential for catastrophic multiple fatalities and severe injuries suggests that additional work is needed to study, simultaneously, factors such as training and job task, and those that describe specific work exposures and mining hazards. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Three-shift system increases job-related stress in Japanese workers

We assessed the relationship between shift work and job stress. The target subjects were 4,962 male workers (3,078 day workers and 1,884 shift workers) aged 18 to 60 yr who work in a Japanese steel company. We used the "Brief Job Stress Questionnaire", which was developed by a research group organized by the Japanese Ministry of Labour. We evaluated the effect of shift work on job stress using logistic regression analysis including age, lifestyle factors, work conditions, marital status, and living arrangements in the model. Job schedule type was significantly associated with job control, with an odds ratio of 2.22 for shift workers compared to day workers. The logistic regression analysis revealed that the odd ratios for having one or more stressor items in an unfavorable condition were significantly higher for shift workers compared to day workers. Increase in the amount of overtime and decrease in the number of holidays led to a significant deterioration in job stress. Our study reveals that the 3-shift system of employment increases work-related stress, and that job control is low among shift workers. To reduce job stress in this occupational population, a reduction in the amount of overtime and an increase in the number of holidays seem to be useful interventions.     

Intention to Leave the Job Among Live-In Foreign Home Care Workers in Israel

In Israel, almost all around-the-clock home care services are provided by foreign workers. Despite the fact that these workers are considered temporary, the Israeli government has acknowledged the need for consistency in care and now allows workers to stay in the country for as long as their care recipient is alive. Nonetheless, there have been increasing concerns about the tendency of foreign home care workers to view Israel as a temporary station on their way to more attractive destinations, such as Canada or England. Using the job rewards and concerns model, this article evaluates determinants of foreign home care workers' intentions to leave their job. This study was a cross-sectional analysis of 178 Filipino home care workers in Israel. Only 15 workers (8.4%) reported that they would be likely or very likely to leave their job within the next 3 months. The final model suggested that negative experiences within the home/work environment as well as within Israeli society at large contribute to depression and posttraumatic stress symptoms. However, caring for an older adult with dementia was the only predictor of intention to leave the job. The majority of workers do not report an intention to leave their job. Nonetheless, greater supervision of this caregiving arrangement in an attempt to protect the rights of foreign home care workers within the home/work environment is an important step, which has to be followed up by attitudinal changes within society at large. Specific training in dementia care is also warranted.     

Mass psychogenic illness in a shoe factory

Summary An investigation was conducted in a USA industrial plant where 50–75 workers reported experiencing symptoms of headache, lightheadedness, and dizziness among others apparently in response to a strange odor in the workplace. Since environmental testing in the plant produced essentially negative results, a behavioral factors evaluation was undertaken. The results of interviews with affected workers and analysis of survey data indicated that those workers who reported experiencing more symptoms during the outbreak also reported more dissatisfaction with the work environment, more physical and psychological stress on the job, and more stress from financial pressure at home. It was concluded that the outbreak represented a case of industrial mass psychogenic illness which was precipitated by a combination of physical and psychological job stress and other life stresses.