WORK: A Journal of Prevention,Assessment & Rehabilitation

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the social environment of most laborers around the world and has profoundly affected people’s ontological security and behavior choices. Among them, the migrant workers are one of the groups most affected by the pandemic.

This study explored the mechanism of the impact of the scarcity of ontological security caused by the pandemic on the risk-taking tendency of migrant workers in China through two studies.

This study adopts two experimental method, with 514 participants in the first study and 357 participants in the second study.

The results show that the pandemic-induced scarcity perception of ontological security promotes their risk-taking tendency, and the migrant workers’ cognitive reflection ability, sense of unfairness and expected benefits play a significant mediating role in this process. The scarcity perception of ontological security promotes migrant workers’ risk-taking tendency by reducing the cognitive reflection ability, triggering the sense of unfairness and overstating expected benefits.

The conclusion of this study can help migrant workers, enterprises and government to avoid potential workplace and social bad behavior.

Occupational burnout, which is more and more commonly encountered among medical professionals and investigated by researchers worldwide, may in particular affect health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The aim of the study was to assess the risk of occupational burnout among physiotherapists working actively in clinical hospitals in south-eastern Poland during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The level of burnout among the studied physiotherapists was assessed using the Polish version of the Maslach Burnout Inventory by Maslach (MBI). The study was conducted from 20 March to 3 May, 2020 among physiotherapists working professionally during the COVID-19 pandemic in the south east of Poland, during which time health services related to therapeutic rehabilitation were suspended. The study was conducted among 1,540 physiotherapists with a license to practice who worked in clinical departments. Considering the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 106 physiotherapists were qualified for the study.

The current findings show that during the COVID-19 pandemic physiotherapists present high burnout rates in all three dimensions: EE (Mean 32.31; CI 29.47–35.15); DP (Mean 16.25; CI 14.48–18.03); PA (Mean 26.25; CI 24.41–28.10). As for gender-related effects, higher burnout rates were observed in the male workers, compared to the females, in all three domains: EE (Men: Mean 34.70; CI 29.90–39.50 –Women: Mean 31.03; CI 27.45–34.60); DP (Men: Mean 18.78; CI 15.98–21.59 –Women: Mean 14.90; CI 12.64–17.16) and PA (Men: Mean 24.54; CI 21.32–27.76 –Women: Mean 27.17; CI 24.90–29.44). The highest burnout rates, presented by the physiotherapists working in the profession for more than 20 years, were identified in the domain of EE (Mean: 35.30; CI 30.51–40.10) and in those with 10–15 years of experience, in the domains of DP (Mean: 18.31; CI 14.89–21.73) and PA (Mean: 23.97; CI 20.13–27.81). The highest rate of occupational burnout, reflected by the scores in all three domains (EE, DP, PA), was identified in Department I –Intensive Care and Anaesthesiology Department: EE - (Mean: 40.89, CI 35.27–46.52); DP - (Mean: 21.39, CI 17.90–24.88); and PA - (Mean: 23.07, CI 20.04–26.10), compared to the other departments. The subjects who rarely participated in courses or training programs showed the highest burnout rates (EE- Mean: 33.55, CI 29.33–37.77; DP- Mean: 16.71, CI 13.99–19.43; PA- Mean: 25.45, CI 22.47–28.43).

Occupational burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic is noticeable among physiotherapists working in clinical departments. The current findings show high burnout rates in all three domains: emotional exhaustion (EE), depersonalization (DP) and personal accomplishment (PA). A comparative analysis of these findings with reference to related studies published before the pandemic shows that the burnout rates among physiotherapists may have significantly increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, given the scarcity of scientific evidence related to this specific problem in Poland and worldwide, it is necessary to continue research in occupational burnout affecting physiotherapists, particularly during the second wave of the pandemic, in order to gain a better understanding of the possible effects of social isolation and greater personal work-related health risks on the mental health of these medical professionals.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is mostly transmitted through respiratory droplets. One of the exposure methods pf this disease is through occupational exposures and, thereby, a large number of people are prone to catching this disease due to their occupations. Nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic are at the forefront of healthcare. There is no information about the level of resilience and the demographic and job factors predicting resilience in the critical conditions of this occupational group.

The present study aims to determine the resilience score and its predictive demographic factors among the nurses working at the hospitals involved with COVID-19 in Ahvaz, Iran.

387 nurses from Ahvaz hospitals participated in this study. The Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) was used to assess resilience. Demographic information was also collected using a designed questionnaire. Since the present study was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, the questionnaires were sent online. Data were entered into software SPSS (version 23) and T-test, ANOVA and regression methods were used for data analysis.

The mean score of 61.18 (±14.8) was obtained for CD-RISC. The results of this study showed that age (r = 0.610, P = 0.003), work experience (r = 0.572, P = 0.030), and level of education (r = 0.514, P = 0.044) had a significant positive correlation with nurses’ resilience score during the COVID-19 pandemic. Multiple regression analysis indicated that work experience and level of education were the predictors of nurses’ resilience (R² = 0.15).

The score of nurses’ resilience was low. Based on the results, education and work experience were determined as the contributing factors for resilience. The findings can help to better understand effective and predictive demographic factors to achieve higher resilience in stressful situations.

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has shown a catastrophic effect on mankind. The allied healthcare professionals (AHPs) play a pivotal role against COVID-19.

To appraise the knowledge and attitude about COVID-19 of AHPs working across Saudi Arabia.

This cross-sectional study was conducted using Qualtrics software to gather data from all five regions of Saudi Arabia during the nationwide lockdown in April 2020. Complete responses of 195 AHPs were considered for analysis. The questionnaire consisted of 15 and 14 questions on knowledge and attitude, respectively. The overall scores of each domain were calculated and modified Bloom’s criterion was applied to categorize them into a three-point ordinal scale. Statistical analysis was performed using Chi-square test along with multivariate logistic regression for significant parameters.

The AHPs displayed a moderate level of knowledge (58.2%) and a good level of attitude (80%). The AHPs were found to have a non-significant (P > 0.05) difference in the level of knowledge within age, gender, region, occupation, educational level, organizational setup and years of experience. The attitude of AHPs working in a private setup has shown a 2.8 times (P = 0.020) higher risk for having moderate/poor attitude compared to the AHPs working in a government organization.

AHPs displayed a moderate level of knowledge and good attitude towards COVID-19. Emphasis should be given to continuous professional development in order to enhance their knowledge. Furthermore, strategies should be developed in the private sector to positively reinforce the attitude of AHPs.

There has been a trend to implement open space offices: wide-spread office floors with modern and colourful furniture. However, there is limited scientific knowledge on the effects of Open Space Offices (OSO). Studies are scarce and show heterogeneous results.

By using the Job Demands-Resources model as a conceptual framework, the present study aimed at investigating the influence of subjective and objective features of the OSO (i.e., office size, desk-sharing, openness) next to classical psychosocial working conditions (i.e., demands, resources) on irritation and subjective well-being.

Cross-sectional and longitudinal data out of four different organisations (490 participants, 43.73 years of age, SD = 12.02) were used.

Results showed that both features of the OSO and working conditions play a role in well-being at work. In line with current studies, job demands and resources contributed more to irritation and subjective well-being than features of the OSO.

The influence of traditional psychosocial working conditions has so far been neglected in research on OSOs. However, their contribution to employees’ well-being next to features of the OSO could explain the heterogeneous findings of the existing research on well-being in OSOs. Thus, when implementing OSOs, employees’ well-being can only be enhanced if working conditions are targeted in parallel.

Existing issues with student mental health are the sources of ongoing violation of academic and educational integrity in learning and instructional dynamics in all educational institutions worldwide.

This didactical paper addresses the practical case of educational integrity violations induced by student mental illness. It presents a thought-provoking unified viewpoint of the existence of a non-obvious geometric analogy between the irreversible psycho-social process of mental disorder growth and the irreversible pressure forming-induced deformation process of materials extrusion through an angular domain.

This paper uses the method of geometric analogy between the dynamics of social irreversible processes in human society and technical irreversible processes in materials extrusion.

The novel analogy between the loss of elliptical shape of an initial circular material element within pressure-extruded material and the development of student mental inadequacy during intensive university education was firstly studied and analyzed in detail.

The author-proposed original socio-technical cross-disciplinary analogy improves and broadens student understanding of nonlinear dynamics both in the technical processes of macroscopic rotation formation in pressure-formed material and in the bio-social processes of psycho-neurological pathology development within a learner’s mind.

It is unclear whether and under which conditions stretch training programs lead to gains in flexibility when applied in work health promotion for office workers in order to reduce musculoskeletal disorders (MSD).

The aim of this study was to analyze whether the stretch training “five-Business” leads to gains in range of motion (ROM). Furthermore, the influence of baseline flexibility and socio-demographic factors (sex, age, weight, height and body mass index (BMI)) on trainability was assessed.

161 office workers (n = 45 female; n = 116 male) without major MSD were recruited. Over three months, a standardized static stretch training (“five-Business”) was executed on a device, supervised twice per week for 10 min. ROM was assessed using a digital inclinometer (shoulder, hip and trunk extension) and a tape measure (fingertip-to-floor and lateral inclination).

ROM gains (p≤0.001) were present in all tests, except for the hip extension. ROM changes correlated moderately (0.24–0.62) with the baseline flexibility (p≤0.001). Subjects with limited flexibility reached the largest gains (1.41–25.33%). Regarding the socio-demographic factors only one low correlation occurred (weight - retroflexion; –0.177).

The “five-Business” stretch training effectively increases ROM in office workers, especially when baseline flexibility is limited.

Participatory simulation (PS) is a method that can be used to integrate ergonomics and safety into workplace design projects. Previous studies have mainly focused on tools and methods for the simulation activities. The subsequent process of transferring and integrating the simulation outcomes into the design of workplaces is poorly understood.

This study sets out to study the role of actors and objects in the transfer of ergonomics knowledge generated in PS events and in the integration of this knowledge into a design project. The study identifies factors that influence what part of the simulation outcomes are integrated.

The empirical context of the study was six PS events that were part of a hospital design project. The events were investigated based on knowledge transfer theory, observations, interviews and document studies.

Actors and objects with abilities of transferring ergonomics knowledge from the PS events to the hospital design project were identified. The study indicated that persons producing the objects functioned as a filter, meaning that not all ergonomics knowledge was transferred from the PS events. The main influencing factors on the integration were: predetermined building dimensions and room interdependency.

Four recommendations were proposed for ergonomists and safety professionals when planning PS events.

Occupational exposure to extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields (ELF-EMFs) may have harmful effects on biologic systems and has raised many concerns in the last decades.

The aim of this study was to determine the effects of exposure to extremely low frequency electric and magnetic fields on lipid peroxidation and antioxidant enzyme activities.

This study was conducted on 115 power plant workers as the exposed group and 145 office workers as the non-exposed group. The levels of Malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), Catalase (Cat), and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) were measured in the serum of all subjects. Exposure to ELF-EMFs was measured based on spot measurements and the IEEE Std C95.3.1 standard.

The levels of MDA, SOD, and Cat in the exposed group were significantly higher than in the non-exposed group. However, the level of TAC was not significantly different between the exposed (2.45±1.02) and non-exposed (2.21±1.07) groups. The levels of MDA and SOD were higher among workers with higher exposure to electric fields than workers with low exposure. All oxidative stress indicators increased with increased exposure to magnetic fields, except TAC.

The antioxidant system imbalance among power plant workers may be related to long term occupational exposure to electromagnetic fields.

Individuals married to active duty military members experience a significantly higher rate of un/underemployment than their civilian counterparts; those with advanced degrees are most impacted. Occupation is central to individual identity and adaptation; therefore, individual occupational struggles can impact family systems. Evidence shows military spouse career concerns impact service member retention, making spouse employment related to national security; however there is limited research on active duty spouses, particularly those with advanced degrees.

This phenomenological study explored the experiences of activity duty military spouses with advanced degrees focusing on maintaining and advancing their careers.

Semi-structured face-to-face interviews were used to explore experiences of military spouses with advanced degrees actively seeking to work in their profession. Inductive content analysis was used to derive overarching themes to respond to the research questions.

Four major themes emerged: uniqueness of military life impacts; professional adaptation: flexibility, creativity and reinvention of the professional self; enhanced sense of duty/professional integrity; and need for enhanced forms of career support.

Military spouses with advanced degrees value and have a right to occupation, including work. Military life presents unique barriers to this. Results have implications for healthcare providers and policy-makers.

There is a void in research that focuses on how OT programs facilitate self-esteem in forensic mental healthcare users’ return-to-work in the open labor market, particularly in South Africa.

To explore the experiences and perceptions of forensic mental healthcare users, transitioning from an OT program to the open labor market.

Five individuals, diagnosed with Schizophrenia, and two key informants participated in this study that was positioned in a qualitative paradigm, with an exploratory and descriptive design. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data.

Theme one reflects on the challenges experienced by forensic mental healthcare users, when returning to work. Theme two describes various OT programs, as well as how they facilitate the reintegration of forensic mental healthcare users into the worker role. Theme three describes the positive support for forensic mental healthcare users, in the mental healthcare setting, workplace, and the greater community. Theme four describes how participation in occupation installs hope in forensic mental healthcare users, reinforcing the value of work, while positively influencing their work identity.

The results revealed that stigma, residual symptoms, relapse due to substance abuse/mental health, and the lack of family support, were not be conducive to work skills development. However, the support of family and friends, workplace occupational therapy support, assembly line work, and therapeutic groups in an OT program, ensured positive workplace reintegration.

It has been found that intense noise may affect the peripheral vestibular system and consequently causes problems in balance mechanisms.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of exposure to chronic noise on vestibular functions and balance in Edirne Band musicians.

Twenty-two individuals working in the Edirne Band for at least 5 years and a control group of 22 individuals working at Trakya University with similar sociodemographic characteristics were included. The socio-demographic questionnaire was used to inquire about the demographic characteristics of individuals, the ABC Scale to assess how they felt about the balance, and the DHI to determine the quality of life related to dizziness. A 3D ultrasonic system was used to assess the static and dynamic balance of the individuals.

There was a statistically significant difference between the band and the control group in terms of longitudinal deviation and self-spin parameters of the Unterberger test, dizziness handicap inventory scores, functional balance according to activity-specific balance confidence scale (p < 0.05).

As a result of our study, it has been shown that the balance, quality of life and vestibular system functions are negatively affected in the band exposed to noise for a long time.

Operating room nursing professionals are exposed to different workload. It is necessary to recognize which situations resulting from their tasks interfere with the health of the professional.

We aimed to identify the physical and physiological loads on operating room nurses and their impact on the health as well as trace ergonomic recommendations based on the literature and performed analysis.

The is an exploratory, observational, descriptive research conducted in the surgical center of a university hospital between August 2017 and July 2018. Nursing staff of both genders who worked as transport professionals or room circulators were included in the study. Data collection in the OR went through stages of Ergonomic Workplace Analysis (EWA), through semi-structured interviews addressing the physical and physiological work issues and a worksheet of data collected from the observations of the practitioners’ actions.

The study included 20 nursing workers of both genders with an average of 17.33±12.58 years of work experience. The most reported problematic factors were: lack of material, staff pressure, patient transporting, employment legal status with the institution, and lack of communication among the practitioners.

There was a physical effort during the activity and a high prevalence of workers with pain complaints, which justifies the investigation.

Injury prevention interventions are limited in the fire service due to a lack of widespread implementation and underreporting. This creates a significant challenge to improving occupational health.

To determine how fire chiefs are promoting reporting and the prevention of physical and mental injuries and illnesses.

We used an open-ended, qualitative instrument to assess the presence of prevention programs and actions to promote injury and illness reporting in the fire service. The instrument contained six content validated items related to the promotion of prevention interventions and reporting.

A total of 54 fire chiefs (age = 51±8y; females = 4, males = 50, years of experience as fire chief = 7±6y) responded to the instrument. A majority (n = 37/54, 68.5%) of the fire chiefs indicated their department had an established health and wellness program. Most fire chiefs reported using established guidelines, education, and a supportive culture to promote prevention and reporting. The cultural stigma of being a firefighter and fear of repercussions were barriers to the promotion of reporting of illness and injury. Fire chiefs stated that they struggled to find ways to effectively promote reporting and prevention strategies.

The success of a fire chief’s promotional efforts was greater in instances where multiple factors were addressed.

Many Korean enterprises have been operating an occupational health and safety management system (OHSMS) based on Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency (KOSHA) 18001 certification standards, which were developed in South Korea.

This study analyzed health and safety performance among enterprises operating KOSHA 18001.

Accident rates from 2010 to 2017 of 1,541 enterprises that implemented KOSHA 18001 and those that did not (N = 2,507,363) were analyzed by industry and size. The differences in the accident reduction rate before and after KOSHA 18001 implementation were analyzed in enterprises that implemented the system.

Compared to before implementation, the accident reduction rate was greater after KOSHA 18001 was implemented. The year that an enterprise began operating KOSHA 18001 was defined as T. For industry-specific analysis, the accident reduction rate between T and T + 1 was greater than that between T-2 and T-1 increased among both manufacturing (p = 0.020) and other enterprises (p = 0.011). For size-specific analyses, the accident reduction rate between T and T + 1was greater than that between T-2 and T-1 among enterprises with 299 or fewer workers (p = 0.008) and enterprises with 300 or more workers (p = 0.043). However, the accident rates of enterprises that implemented KOSHA 18001 and those that did not varied by industry and size.

The findings suggest that enterprises that do not utilize an OHSMS should consider doing so to prevent and reduce industrial accidents, and industry- and size-specific features should be considered to boost safety performance through the implementation of OHSMS.

Nurses report the greatest stress of all health care workers. Although physical activity (PA) is associated with health benefits among other populations, nurses have stressors that other occupations do not typically encounter. It is important for nurses to identify techniques for stress management since stressors negatively impact their health and patient care.

We aimed to examine the relationship between PA levels and physical, mental, and occupational health among nurses.

Nurses (N = 62) completed measures of anthropometrics, demographics, and domains of physical, mental, and occupational health. Pearson correlations determined the relationship between PA and measures health along with the relationship between PA and health among active versus inactive nurses.

Fatigue was significantly correlated with moderate-to-vigorous PA (r = –0.27, p < 0.05). Relationships were found between mental health and light and moderate intensity PA (r = 0.40, p < 0.001; r = 0.30, p < 0.05).

Stress is prevalent among nurses and negatively impacts a nurse’s health along with patient care. Findings suggest health benefits associated with PA among nurses. PA interventions among nurses may be needed to fully see the effects of PA on physical, mental, and occupational health, and ultimately patient health and safety.

Whole-body vibration is a major cause of lower back pain among employees, and the medical and preventive care teams of occupational health departments are often confronted with lower back pain problems among machine operators.

The objectives of this research are to determine the number of excavator drivers exposed to whole-body vibration levels above 0.5m/s², identify other exposure factors that may contribute to back pain, and propose corrective measures.

Vibration measurements were carried out on individual excavator drivers while they were observed carrying out working tasks, after which prevention advice is given. Factors which determine vibration levels are logged on to a database.

The multivariate analysis of several determining factors shows vibration exposure levels vary depending on the varied work tasks being carried out.

This study identifies exposed employees among excavator operators. For each workstation, the determining factors that could explain the high exposures to vibrations are identified. This work shows the important role of tasks on exposure levels. A better adaptation of the tools used to carry out work tasks would allow a decrease in the vibration level of this type of machine.

To promote the successful and sustainable inclusion of people with disabilities in different activities such as work, more precise job matching efforts may be of value, especially because people with disabilities are employed at a lower rate than people without disabilities. Requirement profiles as well as profile comparisons have not yet been recorded for horticultural work processes.

The aim of this study was to document precisely the work process of the cuttings production of the flower tradescantia and to compare the capabilities of people with disabilities with the requirements for this work process for the purpose of verifying that the tool employed was usable.

A skilled worker performed the cuttings production of tradescantias according to good horticultural practice. Additionally, five people with disabilities participated in this study. On the one hand, a structured questionnaire was used to collect the data. On the other hand, the work processes were documented with video recordings and described related to REFA (Association for Work Design, Business Organization and Corporate Development) and evaluated according to IMBA (Integration of People with Disabilities into the Working Environment).

Apart from the too long working hours, the work in the cuttings production was feasible for the five subjects who had different types of disabilities. There were situations of underchallenges of different degrees, but no overchallenges. It was necessary to assess each subject individually for the risk of accident.

IMBA proved to be an effective tool to evaluate and analyse work activities for the purpose of including people with disabilities into horticultural work processes. Thus, it has the potential to facilitate a socially sustainable and skill-oriented work participation for persons with disabilities.

Non-neutral postures during computerised device use coupled with increased usage may increase the risk of neck pain. Greater knowledge of postures that individuals with neck pain adopt during computerised device use is warranted.

To evaluate neck and upper limb posture while using a tablet, laptop and desktop computer (sitting and standing) in individuals with chronic neck pain.

Differences in three-dimensional kinematic variables were assessed during four conditions: tablet, laptop, desktop computer (sitting and standing) in 22 individuals with chronic neck pain >3 months. Differences between kinematic variables were determined using one-way repeated measures ANOVA with Bonferroni post-hoc tests.

Compared to the desktop (sitting), tablet and laptop use resulted in increased neck flexion (mean difference tablet – 14.42°, 95% CI – 19.88, –8.96, P < 0.001; laptop –7.19°, –12.08, –2.31, P = .020); upper trunk flexion (tablet –14.89°, –20.22, –9.56, P < 0.001; laptop –5.56°, –10.02, –1.09, P = .009) and tablet bilateral shoulder elevation (left 11.01 mm, 2.01, 20.04, P < .016; right 13.08 mm, 3.09, 23.11, P < .006).

Tablet and laptop use resulted in greater neck flexion, bilateral shoulder elevation and upper trunk flexion compared to a standard desktop computer, suggesting individuals with chronic neck pain should be mindful of their posture when using these smaller devices. Future research should explore how differences in posture may influence neck pain.

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between safety attitudes and safety performance considering the mediating role of safety climate in the petrochemical industry.

The statistical population of this study included all 1700 employees in the petrochemical industry of Iran, among whom 320 were randomly selected as the participants and completed the research questionnaire. Then, the validity (content, convergent, and divergent) and reliability (Cronbach’s alpha and composite reliability) of the instrument were examined, and the research hypotheses were tested using Smart partial least squares (PLS) software.

The results showed that the model has goodness of fit and, thereby, the positive effect of safety attitude on safety performance was confirmed. In addition, the mediating role of safety climate in the relationship between safety attitude and safety performance was proved. That is, 39.6% of the total effect of safety attitude on safety performance was explained through the mediating role of safety climate.

The findings of this study can improve safety culture and bring about excellent safety performance in petrochemical industries.