JOB STRESS ASSESSMENT FACTORS AMONG MALAYSIAN FIREFIGHTERS AT HIGH RESPONSE RATE STATIONS

Abstract

Depression, anxiety and stress among emergency responders are emerging issues as they can affect psychological well-being. Firefighting is a highly stressful occupation and highly demanding in terms of physical and psychological capacities. As the studies on job stress factors and mental health among firefighters are significantly low in Malaysia, understanding the job stress factors among Malaysian firefighters has become substantially important. Such studies can create a scientific novelty and contribute to suitable intervention processes by the Malaysian government and Fire and Rescue Department Malaysia in ensuring the high efficiency of emergency responders at all times. Hence, this study aimed to determine the factors contributing to depression, anxiety and stress among firefighters in Malaysia. A cross-sectional study involving 82 firefighters from Grade A and Grade B stations in Kota Bharu, Kelantan was conducted, and a validated National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Generic Job Stress Questionnaire (NIOSH GJSQ) was used. The results indicated that physical environment, job future, job requirement, mental demand, workload and responsibility, as well as problem at work, conflict at work and self-esteem have a high possibility to be attributed as stress factors for firefighters. Additionally, the physical environment has the highest contribution as a stressor for firefighters at 79.8%. The findings also found that self-esteem is correlated to problem at work (r = 0.305) and job requirement (r = 0.276). In conclusion, this study has identified the contributing factors that influence the psychological well-being of firefighters in Malaysia. Therefore, it is suggested that further research should be conducted to prevent the arising of mental health problems among firefighters in Malaysia.