Working conditions, job strain and traffic safety among three groups of public transport drivers (original) (raw)
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Journal of Environmental and Occupational Science, 2017
Introduction: The widely documented relationship between psychosocial work factors and occupational accidents has not been translated into intervention strategies in some high-risk occupational groups, such as public transport drivers. According to the recent scientific evidence, city bus drivers tend to present high levels of occupational stress, burnout, and accidents at work. Aim: The aim of this study was to characterize the job strain/burnout profile of professional bus drivers, and associate their stress/burnout profile with their road incidents (road accidents + fines) reported in the past 2 years. Materials and Methods: The study sample was formed by 222 Colombian male city bus drivers with an average of 41.36 years of age, a mean of driving experience of 18.63 years and, in average 6.82 years working in their current transport company. The study participants had a mean of 0.51 road accidents and 1.19 traffic fines in the past 2 years. It was designed a questionnaire composed by four sections: (a) Demographics, (b) job strain (Karasek’s job content questionnaire), (c) burnout (Maslach Burnout Inventory), and (d) self-reported health. Data collection process was conducted in 2014-2015 and analyzes along 2016. Results: A high proportion of city bus drivers report job strain (40.5%). The average scores of emotional exhaustion (X = 21.01) and cynicism (X = 17.88) were also high. Cluster analysis was used to characterize the job strain/burnout profile of professional bus drivers. Two job strain/burnout profiles significantly different were found (low job strain/burnout: n = 34.3% and high job strain/burnout: n = 65.7%). The bus drivers with high job strain/burnout profile reported significantly more accidents than those with low job strain/burnout profile (F(2.216) = 269.1, P = 0.00). Conclusions: This study confirms that the prevalence of occupational stress and burnout are significantly high among Colombian bus drivers. In addition, it was found that the bus drivers’ job strain/burnout profile is related to their performance behind the wheel. Therefore, the intervention on these factors represents a potentially successful strategy for the prevention of road accidents and risk behaviors that lead to penalties and fines.
Comparing Job Stress, Burnout, Health and Traffic Crashes of Urban Bus and BRT Drivers
American Journal of Applied Psychology, 2017
Professional driving is a very demanding task. According to the recent scientific evidence, Bus drivers tend to report high levels of occupational stress, burnout and occupational traffic accidents. With the implementation of new transportation modes, some substantial benefits and adverse circumstances for public transport operators have been documented. BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) systems have been implemented in different cities worldwide as an efficient alternative to fulfill difficulties and limitations related to traditional Urban Bus systems. However, in order to compare the efficiency of different public transport modes, it is important to assess, in addition to objective indicators, the incidence of psychosocial factors and other work-related issues over its operators. Aim: The aim of this study was to compare job stress, burnout, health indicators and traffic accidents suffered between two samples of professional bus drivers: Urban/City Bus and BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) drivers. Methods: The study sample was composed by 361 Colombian male Bus drivers with a meanage of 41.46 years, 222 of them working in Urban Bus companies, and 139 in BRT companies. It was designed a questionnaire composed by four sections: a) demographics and accident rates, b) job stress, c) burnout, and d) health indicators. Results: Significant differences were found between urban and BRT drivers for the case of different work-related variables, i.e., occupational stress, burnout and traffic accident rates, being these results more adverse, in all cases, for Urban Bus operators. Furthermore, both BRT and urban bus drivers reported elevated prevalence of adverse health habits and results. Conclusions: This study showed that the prevalence of work-related stress and burnout are significantly elevated among Colombian bus drivers. In addition, it was found that the bus drivers' job stress is related to burnout indicators. Comparatively, BRT drivers tend to present better outcomes in terms of occupational stress, burnout and occupational accidents than Urban Bus operators. The intervention on these factors represent a potentially successful alternative for the prevention of occupational traffic accidents and negative health outcomes in Bus drivers.
American journal of industrial medicine, 2018
The aim of this study was to estimate accident risk rates and mental health of bus rapid transit (BRT) drivers based on psychosocial risk factors at work leading to increased stress and health problems. A cross-sectional research design utilized a self-report questionnaire completed by 524 BRT drivers. Some working conditions of BRT drivers (lack of social support from supervisors and perceived potential for risk) may partially explain Bogota's BRT drivers' involvement in road accidents. Drivers' mental health problems were associated with higher job strain, less support from co-workers, fewer rewards and greater signal conflict while driving. To prevent bus accidents, supervisory support may need to be increased. To prevent mental health problems, other interventions may be needed such as reducing demands, increasing job control, reducing amount of incoming information, simplifying current signals, making signals less contradictory, and revising rewards.
BMC Public Health
Background The accumulated evidence has shown how professional drivers are, in psychosocial terms, among the most vulnerable workforces, and how their crashes (some of them preceded by stressful working conditions) constitute both an occupational and public health concern. However, there is a clear lack of validated tools for measuring stress and other key hazardous issues affecting transport workers, and most of the existing ones, frequently generic, do not fully consider the specific features that properly describe the work environment of professional driving. This study assessed the psychometric properties, convergent validity and consistency of two measures used for researching occupational stress among professional drivers: the Siegrist’s ERI (Effort-Reward Imbalance Inventory) and Karasek’s JCQ (Job Content Questionnaire). Methods We examined the data collected from 726 Spanish professional drivers. Analyses were performed using Structural Equation Models, thus obtaining basic...
PeerJ, 2018
Background Several empirical studies have shown that professional drivers are a vulnerable occupational group, usually exposed to environmental stressors and adverse work conditions. Furthermore, recent studies have associated work-related stress with negative job performances and adverse health outcomes within this occupational group, including cardiovascular diseases and unsafe vehicle operation. Objective The aim of this study was to describe the working conditions and the health status of this occupational group, and to evaluate the association between the Demand–Control model of job stress and their self-reported health and safety outcomes. Methods A pooled sample of 3,665 Colombian professional drivers was drawn from five different studies. The Job Content Questionnaire and the General Health Questionnaire were used to measure work stress and self-reported mental health, respectively. Additionally, professional drivers self-reported health problems (hypertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes and overweight) and health-related risky behaviors (smoking and sedentary behavior). Results Regarding the Job Demands–Control (JDC) model, it was found that approximately a third part of Colombian professional drivers suffer from high job strain (29.1%). Correlational and multivariate analyses suggest that de JDC model of stress is associated with the professional drivers’ mental health, traffic accidents and fines, but not with other physical and behavioral health-related outcomes, which are highly prevalent among this occupational group, such as hypertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes, overweight, smoking and sedentary behavior. Conclusion The results of this study suggest that (a) stressful working conditions are associated with health and lifestyle-related outcomes among professional drivers, and (b) that evidence-based interventions are needed in order to reduce hazardous working conditions, job stress rates and their negative impact on the health of this occupational group.
Journal of Environmental and Occupational Science, 2017
Introduction: The widely documented relationship between psychosocial work factors and occupational accidents has not been translated into intervention strategies in some high-risk occupational groups, such as public transport drivers. According to the recent scientific evidence, city bus drivers tend to present high levels of occupational stress, burnout, and accidents at work. Aim: The aim of this study was to characterize the job strain/burnout profile of professional bus drivers, and associate their stress/burnout profile with their road incidents (road accidents + fines) reported in the past 2 years. Materials and Methods: The study sample was formed by 222 Colombian male city bus drivers with an average of 41.36 years of age, a mean of driving experience of 18.63 years and, in average 6.82 years working in their current transport company. The study participants had a mean of 0.51 road accidents and 1.19 traffic fines in the past 2 years. It was designed a questionnaire composed by four sections: (a) Demographics, (b) job strain (Karasek's job content questionnaire), (c) burnout (Maslach Burnout Inventory), and (d) self-reported health. Data collection process was conducted in 2014-2015 and analyzes along 2016. Results: A high proportion of city bus drivers report job strain (40.5%). The average scores of emotional exhaustion (X = 21.01) and cynicism (X = 17.88) were also high. Cluster analysis was used to characterize the job strain/burnout profile of professional bus drivers. Two job strain/burnout profiles significantly different were found (low job strain/burnout: n = 34.3% and high job strain/burnout: n = 65.7%). The bus drivers with high job strain/burnout profile reported significantly more accidents than those with low job strain/burnout profile (F (2.216) = 269.1, P = 0.00). Conclusions: This study confirms that the prevalence of occupational stress and burnout are significantly high among Colombian bus drivers. In addition, it was found that the bus drivers' job strain/burnout profile is related to their performance behind the wheel. Therefore, the intervention on these factors represents a potentially successful strategy for the prevention of road accidents and risk behaviors that lead to penalties and fines.
Accident; analysis and prevention, 2017
There is consistent scientific evidence that professional drivers constitute an occupational group that is highly exposed to work related stressors. Furthermore, several recent studies associate work stress and fatigue with unsafe and counterproductive work behaviors. This study examines the association between stress-related work conditions of Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) drivers and risky driving behaviors; and examines whether fatigue is a mechanism that mediates the association between the two. A sample of 524 male Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) operators were drawn from four transport companies in Bogotá, Colombia. The participants answered a survey which included an adapted version of the Driver Behavior Questionnaire (DBQ) for BRT operators, as well as the Effort-Reward Imbalance and Job Content Questionnaires, the Subjective Fatigue subscale of the Checklist Individual Strength (CIS) and the Need for Recovery after Work Scale (NFR). Utilizing Structural Equation Models (SEM) it was fo...
Data in Brief, 2018
This Data in Brief (DiB) article examines the association between the Job Demand-Control (JDC) model of stress and traffic safety outcomes (accidents and sanctions) in public transport drivers (n ¼ 780). The data was collected using a structured self-administrable questionnaire composed of measurements of work stress (Job Content Questionnaire), and demographics (professional driving experience, hours and days working/driving per week). The data contains 4 parts: descriptive statistics, bivariate correlations between the study variables , analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Post-Hoc comparisons between drivers classified different quadrants of the JDC model. For further information, it is convenient to read the full article entitled " Working conditions, job strain and traffic safety among three groups of public transport drivers " , published in Safety and Health at Work (SHAW) [1] (Useche et al., 2018).
Frontiers in Psychology, 2019
Introduction: Psychosocial work environment has been related to many negative health outcomes in different workforces. However, evidence in this regard is still limited in the case of transport workers, and most of the tools used in research, often excessively generic, do not fully consider the specific key stressors, and adverse issues present in the psychosocial environment of professional driving. Objective: Thus, the purpose of this study was to obtain a complete description of the validation of measurement applied to psychosocial factors at work in professional drivers, using the Enterprise version (2018) of COPSOQ-III. Methods: The data was collected from 726 Spanish professional drivers, and the analyses were conducted using the competitive Confirmatory Factor Analysis or CFA, obtaining basic psychometric properties and an optimized structure for the instrument applied to active transport workers. Results: The results suggest a clear factorial structure, high factorial weights, internal consistency, and an improved adjustment to the psychosocial conditions of this group, excluding a set of items with low psychometrical adjustment and keeping the five-factor structure of the questionnaire: demands, influence and development, interpersonal relationships and leadership, job insecurity, and strain-effects and outcomes. Conclusion: Overall, what was found in this study supports the hypothesis that the validated version of COPSOQ in professional drivers, together with complementary information sources specific for their work environment, may have a relevant research value and some important practical implications for the improvement of the occupational safety, and health within the typically vulnerable industry of transportation.
Psychosocial risk and job satisfaction in professional drivers
Frontiers in Psychology
Psychosocial work factors are implicated in the development of stress and job satisfaction. This relationship has been scarcely studied in so-called singular activities, as is the case of professional drivers. This cross-sectional study of 601 professional drivers assesses psychosocial risks and job satisfaction using Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire (COPSOQ) and Overall Job Satisfaction questionnaire models. The values of the psychosocial scales of professional drivers were compared with thresholds values of the Spanish working population. The relationships of the psychosocial scales with the level of job satisfaction were examined using logistic regression models, adjusted for age, gender, length of driving license and years of experience. In general, professional drivers have an unfavorable psychosocial environment compared to the average Spanish workers. The relationship between psychosocial scales and job satisfaction is observed, with the most influential variables being ...