Relationship between Manufacturing Workers'Job Conditions and Stress

Abstract

Objectives: In this study we performed an analysis of the stress associated with the working conditions of 6,764 workers based on ‘A survey of healthy condition of workers on 1999’by the Korean Occupational Safety & Health Agency. The Purpose of this study was to provide basic data for health education and management for industrial workers’health promotion. Methods: Collected data were analyzed using the t-test, ANOVA and multiple regression analysis, using the SPSS 10.0 program. Results: When the degrees of stress were analyzed according to demographic characteristics, females were found to have higher levels of stress than males (p<0.001). Furthermore, as age was lowered and as the work space became larger, the degrees of a stress were also found to be higher (p<0.001 and p<0.01, respectively). When the degrees of stress were analyzed according to working conditions, longer working hours (p<0.001) and reduced break times (p<0.05), gave rise to higher degrees of stress. Also, as the work space was reduced in size and as the work intensity was augmented, the degrees of a stress were made higher (p<0.01). In terms of physical working conditions, humidity and a lack of sense of security resulted in higher degrees of stress (p<0.01). When the workers sense that their environment is noisy or dusty has poor lighting or ventilation or that the rest room and cafeteria facilities are inadequate, the degrees of stress are found to be higher. As regards the social environment, when the workers sensed that the degree of job demand or job control was higher or that the degree of social support was lower, the degrees of stress were increased (p<0.001). Among those factors which influenced physical stress in the stepwise multiple regression analysis, the primary factor was found to be the safety of the working place (5.1 %). Other factors which influenced physical stress were degree of job demand, age, work intensity, humidity, sexual discrimination, length of working hours, size of work space and the existence or not of a regular break time in this order. Total R 2 due to these factors was 12%.