Work Ability of the Personnel of a Petrochemical Company and the Relationship Between Age and Physical Activities

Abstract

Background: Given the importance of the fit between workers’ physical and mental abilities and their job needs, it is of great importance to assess, maintain and promote the work ability of the people. Objective: The current study, conducted in a petrochemicals company, aimed to assess the work ability of the personnel and its relationship with age and physical demands of work. Methods: The current cross sectional descriptive analytical study was conducted on 208 employees working in a petrochemical company. The authors studied different occupational groups including operators, administrative, laboratory, maintenance and warehouse personnel. The required data were collected from the target groups using self-report work ability index questionnaire. To analyze the data, SPSS software version 21 was used. The analysis was conducted using t-test, ANOVA and Pearson correlation coefficient. Results: According to the results of this study, the mean age of the participants was 32 ± 6.1 years and the mean work ability index (WAI) was 43.1 ± 4.4. Based on the results of statistical analysis, age did not have a significant impact on the work ability of individuals; however, there was a direct relationship between the personnel’s work ability and their activities in terms of physical demands of their job. In addition, according to the study findings, 25.5% of the studied people were at risk of low-medium work ability. Conclusions: Based on the standards proposed by the Finnish institute of occupational health (FIOH) and Kujala et al.’s study, the work ability of the studied individuals was classified as good. Since more than a quarter of the studied personnel were at risk of low-medium work ability, thus reducing the burden of physical tasks and making plans to promote the work ability should be a priority in the intervention programs.