WORK: A Journal of Prevention,Assessment & Rehabilitation

Worldwide, the employment rate of people with visual impairments (PVIs) is lower than that of the general working-age population. To improve the employment rate of this group, there is a need for knowledge about differences in modifiable factors between working and non-working PVIs.

To identify modifiable factors associated with participation on the competitive labour market of PVIs. Based on the findings, we aim to develop an individual assessment instrument for determining the odds of labour market success of PVIs.

Data were collected among 299 PVIs by means of a cross-sectional telephone survey based on existing (validated) and self-developed scales and items. Logistic regression analysis was used to find the strongest predictors of the dichotomous outcome of ‘having paid work on the competitive labour market’ (yes/no).

We found three personal non-modifiable factors (level of education, comorbidity, level of visual impairment) and three modifiable factors (mobility, acceptance and optimism) to be significantly (p <  0.05) associated with having paid work.

The factors of optimism, acceptance and mobility should be included in an individual assessment instrument which can provide PVIs and their job coaches with good starting points for improving the labour market situation of the PVIs.

Lean philosophy is used by companies to increase productivity and reduce costs. Although uncontested benefits are created, it is necessary to highlight the problems related to employees’ health and welfare caused by implementing lean manufacturing projects.

The primary objective of this paper is to review the literature and identify the most relevant problems created by lean philosophy for employees.

Research about the theme was performed on many international databases over three months, and an initial sample of 77 papers was found. Twenty-seven sources were utilized.

We identified 22 categories of problems related to health and welfare of employees.

The most cited problem was work intensification, mentioned by thirteen papers. Increased stress and increased responsibilities, demands and, consequently, pressure on the workers are among the primary problems observed in the research.

The majority of research about employment discrimination in the U.S. Mining, Quarrying, and Oil/Gas (MQOGE) industries has concentrated on gender and race, while little attention has focused on disability.

To explore allegations of Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Title I discrimination made to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) by individuals with disabilities against MQOGE employers.

Key data available to this study included demographic characteristics of charging parties, size of employers, types of allegations, and case outcomes. Using descriptive analysis, allegation profiles were developed for MQOGE’s three main sectors (i.e., Oil/Gas Extraction, Mining except Oil/Gas, and Support Activities). These three profiles where then comparatively analyzed. Lastly, regression analysis explored whether some of the available data could partially predict MQOGE case outcomes.

The predominant characteristics of MQOGE allegations were found to be quite similar to the allegation profile of U.S. private-sector industry as a whole, and fairly representative of MQOGE’s workforce demographics. Significant differences between MQOGE’s three main sector profiles were noted on some important characteristics. Lastly, it was found that MQOGE case outcomes could be partially predicted via some of the available variables.

The study’s limitations were presented and recommendations were offered for further research.

Neck pain is one of the largest health problems in the military sector.

To assess differences in the strength and endurance of the cervical muscles between military personnel with chronic nonspecific neck pain (CNSNP) with higher level of kinesiophobia (CNSNP-K) and individuals with lower levels of kinesiophobia (CNSNP-NK).

We used kinesiophobia as a classification method: (1) CNSNP-K and (2) CNSNP-NK. The variables measured were endurance and strength of cervical muscles; range of motion (ROM), disability, pain intensity and psychological factors.

Eighty-three military personnel (26 CNSNP-K; 20 CNSNP-NK and 37 asymptomatic). Statistically significant differences in endurance and ROM were only found between the CNSNP-K group and the control group. In strength and disability differences were revealed between both symptomatic groups and the control group [CNSNP-K vs. control (flex-ext p <  0.001); CNSNP-NK vs. control (flex p = 0.003) and (ext p <  0.001)]. For psychological variables, the CNSNP-K group showed differences compared with the CNSNP-NK (pain catastrophizing, p = 0.007; anxiety and depression, p <  0.001) and with the asymptomatic group (pain catastrophizing, p = 0.008; anxiety and depression, p <  0.001).

Military personnel with CNSNP-K have functional limitations and associated psychosocial factors compared with asymptomatic subjects, and showed greater associated psychological factors than CNSNP-NK group. Military personnel with CNSNP-NK only showed decreased strength with respect to those who were asymptomatic.

The evidence literature suggests that physical therapy practitioners are subjected to a high probability of acquiring work-related injuries, but only a few studies have specifically investigated Taiwanese physical therapy practitioners.

This study was conducted to determine the relationships among individual and group hospital-level factors that contribute to the medical expenses for the occupational injuries of physical therapy practitioners in Taiwan.

Physical therapy practitioners in Taiwan with occupational injuries were selected from the 2013 National Health Insurance Research Databases (NHIRD).

The age, gender, job title, hospitals attributes, and outpatient data of physical therapy practitioners who sustained an occupational injury in 2013 were obtained with SAS 9.3. SPSS 20.0 and HLM 7.01 were used to conduct descriptive and hierarchical linear model analyses, respectively.

The job title of physical therapy practitioners at the individual level and the hospital type at the group level exert positive effects on per person medical expenses. Hospital hierarchy moderates the individual-level relationships of age and job title with the per person medical expenses.

Considering that age, job title, and hospital hierarchy affect medical expenses for the occupational injuries of physical therapy practitioners, we suggest strengthening related safety education and training and elevating the self-awareness of the risk of occupational injuries of physical therapy practitioners to reduce and prevent the occurrence of such injuries.

While a considerable body of research has studied safety climate and its role as a leading indicator of organizational safety, much of this work has been conducted with Western manufacturing samples.

The current study puts emphasis on the cross-validation of a safety climate model in the non-Western industrial context of Iranian petrochemical industries.

The current study was performed in one petrochemical company in Iran. The scale was developed through conducting a literature review followed by a qualitative study with expert participation. After performing a screening process, the initial number of items on the scale was reduced to 68.

Ten dimensions (including management commitment, workers’ empowerment, communication, blame culture, safety training, job satisfaction, interpersonal relationship, supervision, continuous improvement, and reward system) together with 37 items were extracted from the exploratory factor analysis (EFA) to measure safety climate. Acceptable ranges of internal consistency statistics for the sub-scales were observed. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) confirmed the construct validity of the developed safety climate scale for the petrochemical industry workers. The results of reliability showed that the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient for the designed scale was 0.94. The ICC was obtained 0.92.

This study created a valid and reliable scale for measuring safety climate in petrochemical industries.

Within a Job Demands-Resources Model framework, formal mentoring can be conceived as a job resource expressing the organization’s support for new members, which may prevent their being at risk for burnout.

This research aims at understanding the protective role of formal mentoring on burnout, through the effect of increasing learning personal resources. Specifically, we hypothesized that formal mentoring enhances newcomers’ learning about job and social domains related to the new work context, thus leading to lower burnout.

In order to test the hypotheses, a multiple regression analysis using the bootstrapping method was used.

Based on a questionnaire administered to 117 correctional officer newcomers who had a formal mentor assigned, our results confirm that formal mentoring exerts a positive influence on newcomers’ adjustment, and that this in turn exerts a protective influence against burnout onset by reducing cynicism and interpersonal stress and also enhancing the sense of personal accomplishment.

Confirming previous literature’s suggestions, supportive mentoring and effective socialization seem to represent job and personal resources that are protective against burnout. This study provides empirical support for this relation in the prison context.

Work engagement has been conceptualized as a relatively stable phenomenon, partly explained by the presence of specific job and organizational characteristics. Work engagement is important to the dental workforce worldwide, and the lack of it has been known to cause burnout. Positivity among dentists is essential as it is directly proportional to the patient’s satisfaction towards the dental care.

To assess work engagement among dentists in the city of Hyderabad, India.

A cross-sectional questionnaire study was conducted to assess work engagement among dentists enrolled with the local branch of the Indian Dental Association in the city of Hyderabad, India. The shortened form of the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES-9) questionnaire was employed for the assessment. The mean scores of total work engagement and its domains based on gender and educational qualifications were estimated using Student t- test.

A total of 371 subjects participated in the study. Females reported higher mean scores than males for total work (p = 0.40) and its dimensions (Vigor; p = 0.23, Dedication; p = 0.53, Absorption; p = 0.69). Dentists with Master’s degree had higher mean scores not only in the total work, but also in its dimensions. (p = 0.01).

The present study reported that females had higher mean scores of total work engagement and its individual domains. In comparison with a Bachelor’s degree, having a Master’s degree enhanced work engagement among dentists in Hyderabad, India.

Organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) is important to the development of an organization. Research into factors that foster OCB and the underlying processes are therefore substantially crucial.

The current study aimed to test the association between trait self-control and OCB and the mediating role of consideration for future consequence.

Four hundred and ninety-four Chinese employees (275 men, 219 women) took part in the study. Participants completed a battery of self-report measures online that assessed trait self-control, tendencies of consideration of future consequence, and organizational citizenship behavior. Path analysis was conducted and bootstrapping technique (N = 5000), a resampling method that is asymptotically more accurate than the standard intervals using sample variance and assumptions of normality, was used to judge the significance of the mediation.

Results of path analysis showed that trait self-control was positively related to OCB. More importantly, the “trait self-control-OCB” link was mediated by consideration of future consequence-future, but not by consideration of future consequence-immediate.

Employees with high trait self-control engage in more organizational citizenship behavior and this link can be partly explained by consideration of future consequence-future.

Manual material handling (MMH) task is the most common cause of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). Operators carrying unstable loads were recently shown to be at greater risk of back injury compared to workers carrying stable loads.

This study focused on developing a device to minimize trunk muscle activity and cardiovascular demand while handling a 19-liter bottle.

After evaluating several designs, one was selected to be developed, manufactured and tested through an experimental study. Healthy participants (n = 42) manually carried a 19-liter bottle. The carrying technique (i.e., carrying a lateral load while holding the load using the dominant hand, pulling the load using the developed device, carrying the load on the back using the developing device) was the independent variable. The muscular activities (e.g., neck extensor, upper trapezius, pectoralis major, deltoid medial, rectus abdominis, and erector spinae muscles of the dominant side), cardiac costs, plantar pressures, walking speeds, and subjective measures were the dependent variables.

Results show that carrying the developed device like a backpack significantly reduced trunk muscle activity, cardiovascular demand, and plantar pressure compared to the usual practice. The present results suggest that carrying a 19-liter water bottle using the developed device is likely to contribute to lower MSDs.

Implementation of the develop device recommended to lessen the risk of injury when handling unstable loads such as liquids.

The Job Demand Control Support model (JDCS) is one of the most widely used theoretical models relating job characteristics to health and wellbeing.

This study aimed to assess the predictive power of the JDCS model for determining job satisfaction and fatigue in uniformed Swedish police. An additional aim was to determine if predictive power of the model would be improved with the addition of two occupation specific items.

Questionnaire data, based upon the Swedish Work Environment Survey were collected from Swedish police (n = 4244). A hierarchical multiple regression analysis was run to explore the predictive value of the model and to determine if the additional variables improved predictive power with respect to job satisfaction and fatigue.

Regression analysis demonstrated that the JDSC model had high predictive power in relation to job satisfaction and fatigue. Job demands was the strongest predictor of fatigue (14%), while support was the strongest predictor of job satisfaction (12%). The addition of exposure to threats significantly improved predictive power for both job satisfaction and fatigue, while addition of shift work did not significantly affect predictive power of the model.

Workplace interventions to address issues related to job satisfaction and fatigue in police should focus on maintaining a bearable level of job demands and provision of adequate support.

Night shift workers, particularly those working offshore, take a long time to recover from their shifts. The activities that shift workers, such as offshore employees, pursue during their leisure time can influence the process of recovery from work-related fatigue, but little is known about these leisure time activities.

To explore what leisure time activities are pursued that may be relevant to recovery for offshore employees.

Sixty-one offshore working family men—20 night shift, 16 swing shift, and 25 day shift workers—reported on six predefined activities for 14 days following their offshore tours. Generalized estimating equations analysis was used to explore trends in the data.

From the start of the free period, almost all participants were involved in household chores and childcare; these activities declined over the 14 days. Throughout the study period, participants actively pursued social, volunteer, and leisure time physical activities. Work-related activities were pursued by half of the participants at some time during the 14 days. Night and swing shift workers were more physically active than day workers throughout the first 14 days of the free period.

The transition from offshore work to family life can be characterised as active. The activities engaged in by this sample of employees are likely to promote their recovery.

For several years, the transportation industry has been concerned about a severe shortage of professional truck drivers. Studies investigating the reasons found that poor working conditions and stresses and strains resulting from physiological and psychological job demands have had a negative impact on drivers’ health and ability to work. Nevertheless, until now, most employers have refrained from offering measures to support the work ability and well-being of drivers, mainly due to financial pressures in the industry.

The present study was aimed at designing adequate and affordable measures to support drivers’ health.

With reference to the Work Ability Index and the house of work ability (Ilmarinen & Tuomi, 2004), 56 truck drivers participated in guided interviews about their working conditions and health-related problems as well as their attitudes, experiences, and desires with respect to being offered supportive measures by their employers.

The measures derived are specific and realizable and expected to be widely accepted by professional drivers. They are designed to elicit a positive attitude in the drivers toward exercising and to help them overcome related psychological barriers.

The implementation of the recommended measures can be expected to support drivers’ work ability and help reduce the frictional costs of their employers.

Need for recovery (NFR) and prolonged fatigue are two important concepts for monitoring short- and long-term outcomes of psychological job demands within employees. For effective monitoring it is, however, important to gain insight in the reproducibility of the instruments that are used.

The objective was to assess reproducibility of the NFR scale and Checklist Individual Strength (CIS), measuring NFR and prolonged fatigue respectively, in the working population.

Longitudinal data from the Maastricht Cohort Study (MCS) study was used, capturing 12,140 employees from 45 different companies at baseline. A ‘working’ and ‘returning to work’ sample was conceived for different intervals; 4-month, 1-year, and 2-year.

Reliability, assessed with the interclass correlation, was high within employees with a stable work environment for the NFR scale (0.78) and CIS (0.75). The smallest detectable change, assessing the agreement, was 41.20 for the NFR scale and 31.10 for the CIS.

Reliability was satisfactory for both the NFR scale and CIS. The agreement of both scales to detect a changes within employees was, however, less optimal. It is, therefore, suggested that, ideally, both instruments are placed within a broader range of instruments to effectively monitor the outcomes of psychological job demands.