Link between haste and occupational injury

1 Introduction

Haste is defined as excessive speed or urgency of movement [1]. People today experience more haste at work. This subjective experience has many consequences for the health and well-being of employees. The likelihood of occupational injuries is one of these consequences.

The effect of haste on accidents has most often been studied among professional drivers. For instance, time pressure was associated with violations and errors made by Turkish professional drivers [2]. English drivers of emergency vehicles experienced time pressure more often than drivers of company cars, vans, taxis and buses [3]. However, time pressure was not associated with the number of reported accidents among French drivers [4]. Difficulties in meeting deadlines increased the risk of collision among French on-duty drivers [5]. Haste was a more significant risk factor in work-related traffic than leisure-time traffic according to Finnish sales and marketing staff, and construction workers [6]. Short time margin was an additional factor found that increased the risk of mishap for carrier landing of aircraft [7]. Haste was also the cause of one out of six occupational eye injuries in Turkey [8]. In the emergency job like fire fighters injuries can prevent by physical training [9].

Usually a wage system with piece rate increased haste at work. A review of 31 studies showed that in most situations piece rates have negative effects on health and safety [10]. Among Canadian female textile workers, piecework doubled the risk of severe disability and elevated nine times the risk of arthritic and osteoarticular disorders compared to workers who paid on an hourly basis [11, 12].

Psychosocial work factors have been shown to be associated with occupational injuries. Nervously tiring work predicted at-work crashes for males, whereas an uncomfortable position at work predicted commuting injuries for women among French electricity and gas employees [13]. Workplace violence and increased job strain were associated with work-related injury absence among Korean workers [14]. High work pressure and violent clients increased the risk of occupational injury among public sector employees in Finland, whereas good communication at work decreased the risk [15].

The aim of this study was to examine the effect of haste on occupational injuries. The link between these two factors is often discussed but very little scientific explanations exists. Some psychosocial factors may cause haste. The worst outcome of haste can be an accident. The effect of psychosocial factors at work on occupational injuries was also examined. The most significant psychosocial factors in this study were the support from supervisors and co-workers, and interruptions at work.

2 Material and methods

The material of this article was developed from the Finnish National Work and Health surveys, which have been carried out by the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health every three years since 1997. The subjects were a random sample of the Finnish population, aged 25 to 64. The information was obtained on the population from the 1997–2006, and 2012 Finnish Population Registers and from the 2009 Finnish Employment Statistics. The final study group consisted of 12 926 currently working employees. The response rate varied from 40% to 71% in different years. The data was collected by trained interviewers through computer-assisted telephone interviews (CATI), with the average length of interview being 36 minutes. The interviews were done both in Finnish and Swedish (the second language in Finland). Table 1 shows the distribution of interviews during the study.

In the interview, occupational injury was measured using the following question: “Over the past 12 months, when at work or commuting to or from work, have you been in an accident that caused at least a minor injury?” The respondents answered yes, no or cannot say.

Working in haste was measured by asking: “How often do you have to hurry to get your work done?” 1 = never, 5 = very often.

“Stress refers to a situation in which a person feels tense, restless, nervous, or anxious, or is unable to sleep at night because his/her mind is troubled all the time. Have you felt this kind of stress recently?” 1 = not at all, 5 very much.

Job satisfaction was measured by the question: “How satisfied are you with your present work?” 1 = very satisfied, 5 = very dissatisfied.

Interruptions were measured by asking: “Do you need to interrupt your on-going work tasks due to other tasks or more urgent tasks?” 1 = never, 5 = continuously.

Both physical and mental strain at work was elicited by the question: “Is your work physically 1- light, 5 very strenuous?” and “Is your work mentally 1 = light, 5 very heavy?”

State of health was ascertained by asking: “Compared to other employees of your age, what is your state of health?” 1 = very good, 5 = very poor.

Negative emotions at work were measured with the question: “How often at work are you involved in situations that arouse negative emotions such as anger, hatred, fear or shame? 1 = never, 5 = very often.

3 Results

Figure 1 shows the proportion of respondents who suffered an injury and experienced haste at the six measurement points from 1997 to 2012. Injuries were stable at around 10% during the whole follow-up period, although the increase between 2003 and 2006 was highly significant (χ² = 40.65, df = 1, p < 0.001). The proportion of employees experiencing haste very often varied from one cohort to another, because the increase between 2003 and 2009 (χ² = 41.01, df = 1, p < 0.001) and decrease between 2009 and 2012 were highly significant (χ² = 15.68, df = 1, p < 0.001). Obviously these changes from 2003 to 2006 are related to economic boom in Finland.

Table 2 shows the relationship between haste at work and occupational injury in the combination of all six -year cohorts.

Employees working in haste rather and very often suffered an occupational injury statistically more often than their colleagues experiencing haste less often (χ² = 36.17, df = 4, p < 0.001).

Figure 2 describes the psychosocial factors associated with haste which can affect accidents. Continuous interruptions and changes at work were the factors that were most correlated with haste. A strong correlation was also found between stress and haste. For those who were involved with accidents, poor opportunities to influence work and working times were experienced more often. Workers who received limited support from their supervisors were more often involved in accidents. Superiors’ unfairness was also experienced more often by workers who had suffered accidents (χ² = 22.03, df = 4, p < 0.001). Management’s lack of interest in the welfare and health of employees was significantly related to injuries (χ² = 26.23, df = 4, p < 0.001).

Table 3 presents the correlation matrix of the essential variables. Occupational injuries were significantly associated with physical strain, negative emotions, and state of health. However, the correlation between haste and occupational injuries was not significant, because of only greater haste correlates greater rates of injuries. Significant correlations were found between haste at work and all other variables. Other strong correlations were found between stress and mental strain, negative emotions and mental strain, and negative emotions and stress. Interruptions were also connected to mental strain.

Table 4 shows the associations between some psychosocial factors and injury events. High stress and interruptions in work were strongly associated with a risk of injury, whereas a lack of interruptions protected from injury. Light physical strain, lack of negative emotions and light mental strain were also protective factors against occupational injury.

Table 5 shows the association between psychosocial factors and haste at work. Constantly experiencing negative emotions increased the risk of haste at work, whereas never having negative emotions decreased haste. Light and sometimes strenuous physical strain and very good perceived health were protective factors against haste at work.

Workplace atmosphere was a factor found that had the ability to influence accidents in such a way that workers who faced a more tense atmosphere reported more accidents (χ² = 15.96, df = 1, p < 0.001). Interestingly enough, if the atmosphere was considered encouraging, respondents suffered less accidents (χ² = 85.68, df = 1, p < 0.001).

4 Conclusions

This study showed a correlation between haste and occupational accidents. Haste is often considered a subjective feeling, but it can also be the result of tight timetables. The way in which different people experience haste varies in a work setting. This study concentrated on the respondents’ need to hurry in order to get their job finished. This study showed the link between working in a hurry and occupational accidents.

Although the feeling of haste is subjective, it may be caused by certain psychosocial factors and some of these factors are work-related. Stress and haste correlate strongly but the question is, which is the cause and which is the result. Haste causes stress, but a stressed individual may also experience more haste than others. Other psychosocial factors may also affect stress.

Poor management and unclear tasks are often a cause of haste. This finding is quite reasonable; feelings of uncertainty about one’s tasks most likely increases the psychological load of employees.

In this kind of cross-sectional study, we can only calculate correlations. Because both variables are measured at the same time, it is not possible to determine the causality between the variables. This is also true for occupational injuries, although it was ask the participants to report their injuries during the past 12 months.

The results of this study are from Finland, which is a capitalist country wherein work is often organized according to the profit imperative. Working in haste has increased at Finnish workplaces although we recognize that new innovations is a more important way to grow national economy than working in more haste. However, this study showed that a considerable part of occupational injuries are related to haste and occupational injuries caused a significant decrease in our national economy [16].

The literature review showed that the relationship between time pressure and occupational accidents have been studied in Turkey, England and France. We thought that the results of this study from Finland were in line with these previous studies. Thus, the results of this can be generalized to the other industrialized countries.

Thus, it is obvious that in order to prevent these occupational accidents in those individuals that feel pressure to hurry, more attention should be brought to improving work-related psychosocial issues. The results from this study show evidence that interruptions at work are the most significant cause of haste-related accidents. If individuals can do their work in peace without disturbances, they can avoid haste, and thus also perhaps accidents.

Conflict of interest

The authors have no conflict of interest to report.