Occupational Health Literature Research Articles

Mineworkers with pneumoconiosis, work-related injury compensation, and empty institution in China

This study investigates the ineffectiveness of China's work-related injury insurance in protecting mineworkers with pneumoconiosis. Using the FAT (Formal, Actual, and Targeted) institutional analysis framework, the paper examines the discrepancy between the formal rules, the actual practices and the targeted outcomes of the system, based on interviews with 20 pneumoconiosis mineworkers. The paper reveals that the work-related injury insurance system is an empty institution that does not cover most mineworkers, does not compensate them adequately, and does not prevent or treat their disease effectively. The paper also explores the factors that contribute to the system's ineffectiveness, such as the political compromise behind the revision of laws and regulations, the complexity and exclusivity of the eligibility criteria, and the transient and precarious nature of mineworkers’ employment. Furthermore, the paper discusses how the system's failure is mitigated by other social security and assistance mechanisms that provide basic medical and living support for pneumoconiosis patients, but do not address the root causes of their occupational disease or ensure their access to justice and compensation. The paper situates the findings within the political economy of occupational health literature and proposes policy recommendations for a more comprehensive and compassionate approach to occupational disease prevention and control in China.

Systemic Occupational Health Needs of Gender-Based Violence Advocates: Findings From the Early Months of the Pandemic.

This study explores occupational health burdens faced by domestic and sexual violence advocates, many of which intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic. It identifies key stressors and offers advocate-driven recommendations to improve their wellbeing, addressing the lack of system-level interventions in the occupational health literature. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 22 advocacy professionals. Thematic content analysis guided transcript coding, and researchers shared initial results with participants in two member checking sessions to validate the preliminary findings. Advocates experienced logistical, emotional, and systemic stressors, including loss of peer support and unempathetic workplace cultures. Recommendations prioritize advocate wellbeing and call for systemic changes. Advocates' occupational stressors highlight the need for system-level solutions to enhance their occupational wellbeing, particularly during large-scale emergencies. Collaborative efforts among employers, funders, and staff are essential to address system deficiencies.

Unearthing Hazards: Investigating the Root Causes of Workplace Accidents at PT Indo Muro Kencana's Gold Mines

Objective: This study seeks to dissect the occurrences of work-related accidents at PT Indo Muro Kencana (PT IMK) over a period spanning from 2018 to 2023. It aims to pinpoint the contributing factors to these mishaps, analyzing them to forge actionable recommendations and preventive strategies aimed at mitigating accident risks and enhancing workplace safety and health. Design/Methods/Approach: Employing a quantitative descriptive methodology, this research adopts an observational descriptive design to catalog and scrutinize work accident incidents. The Loss Causation Model serves as the analytical framework, facilitating a thorough evaluation of accident causatives. The study encompasses all PT IMK employees during the specified timeframe, utilizing a total sampling approach. Data compilation hinges on secondary sources, including company accident reports and relevant literature, with SPSS Statistics 25 software facilitating cross tabulation for data analysis. Findings: Analysis reveals a fluctuating pattern of work accidents over the years, with a significant portion resulting from direct physical interactions such as collisions and strikes. Predominantly occurring in excavation and roadway sectors, these incidents frequently involve heavy machinery and service vehicles. Notably, accidents disproportionately affect younger employees with limited tenure, though veterans are not exempt from risk. Primary accident triggers are identified as unsafe acts—including procedural breaches and poor decision-making—and unsafe conditions like slippery surfaces and subpar equipment. Underlying causes are attributed to human elements, notably inadequate judgment skills, and occupational hazards, including poor hazard awareness and deficient job safety analysis. Originality/Value: This research pioneers in its focused examination of work accident causatives within PT Indo Muro Kencana's gold mining operations, marking a novel contribution to occupational safety and health literature in the mining sector. Practical/Policy implication: The insights garnered herein are poised to inform the development of targeted safety programs, underlining the study's utility in propelling occupational safety and health consciousness, alongside facilitating accident risk reduction initiatives.

Does leader-member exchange ambivalence hinder employee well-being? Exploring relations with work engagement and emotional exhaustion.

Recent research has introduced the concept of leader-member exchange (LMX) ambivalence and has shown that it can be detrimental to employee task performance. Drawing on self-determination theory and models of LMX development, this research investigates whether LMX ambivalence may also negatively influence employee well-being. In a two-wave field study with 278 employees in a large police organisation, we found that LMX ambivalence was significantly associated with two focal measures of work-related well-being: work engagement and emotional exhaustion, through its influence on psychological need fulfilment. Perceived positive meaning in work was found to buffer the negative effects of LMX ambivalence on psychological need fulfilment and well-being. Overall, these results contribute to the occupational health literature by demonstrating that psychological need fulfilment helps explain why LMX ambivalence negatively affects work related well-being outcomes and underscores the important role of positive meaning in work as a buffer for these relationships.

Fostering workplace safety: An exploration of the priority given to safety knowledge transmission in occupational environments

Literature on occupational safety and knowledge transmission lacks the exploration of safety knowledge transmission in workplaces, including it as a possible strategy to enhance workers’ occupational health and safety within professional contexts. To address this research gap, we aim to understand if the transmission of safety knowledge is a priority and if it is effectively applied in daily work activities by both novices and experts in secondary and tertiary sectors, considering their working conditions. A questionnaire was conducted to 243 participants to analyze the perception of safety knowledge transmission (what happens; and what is considered important/a priority), according to novices and experts in both activity sectors, and the factors that affect the safety knowledge transmission. Results reveal that most workers consider safety knowledge very important, although more important for novices in the secondary sector, and that the working conditions that enhance the likelihood of transmission of safety knowledge differ between activity sectors. Also, safety knowledge transmission lies in an intention field, due to individual and organizational factors. These data support the originality of this research, contributing to the empirical enrichment within occupational health and safety literature and to the reflection on policy actions in professional contexts. It reveals workers' perceptions of the real transmission of safety knowledge in their contexts and elucidates the need for awareness and intervention at the working conditions level by decision-makers in companies, to make this intention a real priority in their contexts.

Occupational safety and health and temporary agency work in multiemployer restaurants.

Current occupational safety and health (OSH) literature calls for sociotechnical, system-level approaches that increase understanding of the underlying reasons for insufficient OSH performance in nonstandard employment that is associated with lower labour and social security protection when compared with traditional forms of work. This study focused on temporary agency work (TAW) which is a central form of nonstandard employment. The objective was to explore OSH issues in temporary agency work (TAW) in small and medium-sized multiemployer restaurants in Finland and discuss the issues from the perspectives of the agency worker, user company and agency. A directed content analysis method was used to examine the data obtained from semi-structured interviews (n = 20) with agency workers, restaurant managers and experts representing the temporary work agencies, a pension insurer, and a labour union. The balanced work system theory was used as a framework for this qualitative analysis. A variety of OSH risks and hazards in TAW were identified. In addition, the complexity of OSH management was highlighted in this triangular employment relationship between the agency worker, the user company, and the agency. This study reveals problems related to OSH in TAW. Restaurants are entities separate from agencies, so establishing and adhering to a common process of OSH management is not simple.

Quantifying the evidence for the absence of the job demands and job control interaction on workers' well-being: A Bayesian meta-analysis.

Central to many influential theories in the occupational health and stress literature is that job resources reduce the negative effects of job demands on workers' well-being. However, empirical investigations testing this supposition have produced inconsistent findings. This study evaluates the interaction between job demands and job control on workers' well-being through a systematic literature search and using a Bayesian meta-analytic approach. Both aggregated study findings and raw participant-level data were included in the study, resulting in 104 effect sizes of aggregate-level data and 14 participant-level data sets. Overall, the data provided strong evidence for the absence of an interaction between job demands and job control. Longitudinal and nonlinear research designs were also examined but did not alter this overall conclusion. Contrary to the postulations of widespread theories, job control does not reduce the negative impact of job demands on workers' well-being. Alternative theoretical approaches and the need for more consistent and rigorous research standards, like open science practices, are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Prediction of compliance with preventive measures among teachers in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic

The objective of this study is to examine, in primary and high schools, teachers' compliance with preventive infection control measures (in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic). Inspired by the technology acceptance model (TAM) and occupational health and safety (OHS) literature on personal protective equipment (PPE) use, we propose a model of compliance with preventive measures among teachers. Data were collected following an observational, cross-sectional design. The data for the study were collected via a questionnaire survey of teachers working in the province of Quebec, Canada. To study the impact of the explanatory variables on the dependent variable, we developed a multiple linear regression model. This model was estimated to assess the preventive measures as a whole (six items). Results show that having tested positive for a COVID test in the last year, judging that the situation does not require the use of the mask or the protective glasses, training received on preventive measures, factors related to comfort and use of protective eyewear, as well as age influence teacher compliance with COVID-19 preventive measures.

The Dobbs Decision and the Future of Occupational Health in the US.

Access to abortion care has a profound impact on women's ability to participate in the workforce. In the US, restrictions on abortion care have waxed and waned over the years, including periods when abortion was broadly permitted across the nation for most pregnant people for a substantial proportion of pregnancy and times when restrictions varied across states, including states where abortion is banned for nearly all reasons. Additionally, access to abortion care has always been a reproductive justice issue, with some people more able to access this care than others even when it is structurally available. In June 2022, the US Supreme Court handed down the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, returning to states the ability to determine restrictions on abortion, including near-total bans on abortion. In this anthology, ten experts share their perspectives on what the Dobbs decision means for the future, how it will exacerbate existing, well-researched issues, and likely also create new challenges needing investigation. Some contributions are focused on research directions, some focus on implications for organizations, and most include both. All contributions share relevant occupational health literature and describe the effects of the Dobbs decision in context.

Psychosocial safety climate and psychological capital for positive customer behavioral intentions in service organizations

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to articulate a synergic-mediated model of positive service behaviors enabled by what could be called a “psychosocial resource caravan” for improved customer behavioral intentions to help service organizations especially during coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis.Design/methodology/approachThis paper adopts a multi-level approach and is based on positive organizational behavior and occupational health and safety literature. An empirical study of synergic-mediated model of positive service behaviors has been developed and tested using a quantitative approach.FindingsThis paper offers a theoretical framework proposing that a psychosocially safe work environment (psychosocial safety climate (PSC)) interacts with employees' positive psychological capital (PsyCap) to facilitate positive service behaviors that influence customers' behavioral intentions. As PsyCap and PSC have origin, respectively, in different organizational levels, those both can combine and create a context for positive service encounters. The proposed model has been operationalized and then the reliability and validity of the constructs have been examined. A series of CFAs has been conducted and the fitness of the prosed model was compared to other possible models. The model showed a better fitness compared to the other plausible models. All hypotheses of the model were also significant.Originality/valueThe proposed model integrates positive organizational behavior and occupational health and safety literature to consider the conditions for positive service behaviors. High levels of PsyCap among team members and a psychosocially safe working environment, i.e. PSC can impact customers through positive service behaviors. The articulation of the proposed model presented in this paper invites future empirical research on the synergic nature of psychosocial resources. The paper also suggests some key points to operationalize “psychosocial resource caravan.”

Systemic barriers to reporting work injuries and illnesses in contexts of language barriers

Workers who experience language barriers are at increased risk of work-related injuries and illnesses and face difficulties reporting these health problems to their employer and workers' compensation. In the existing occupational health and safety literature, however, such challenges are often framed in individual-level terms. We identify systemic barriers to reporting among injured workers who experience language barriers within the varying contexts of Ontario and Quebec, Canada. This study merges data from two qualitative studies that investigated experiences with workers' compensation and return-to-work, respectively, for injured workers who experience language barriers. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 39 workers and 70 stakeholders in Ontario and Quebec. Audio recordings were transcribed and coded using NVivo software. The data was analysed thematically and iteratively. Almost all workers (34/39) had filed a claim, though most had initially delayed reporting their injuries or illnesses to their employer or to workers' compensation. Workers faced several obstacles to reporting, including confusion surrounding the cause and severity of injuries and illnesses; lack of information, misinformation, and disinformation about workers' compensation; difficulties accessing and interacting with care providers; fear and insecurity linked to precarity; claim suppression by employers; negative perceptions of, and experiences with, workers' compensation; and lack of supports. Language barriers amplified each of these difficulties, resulting in significant negative impacts in economic, health, and claim areas. Improving the linguistic and cultural competence of organizations and their representatives is insufficient to address under-reporting among workers who experience language barriers. Efforts to improve timely reporting must tackle the policies and practices that motivate and enable under-reporting for workers, physicians, and employers.

Blue Monday, yellow Friday? Investigating work anticipation as an explanatory mechanism and boundary conditions of weekly affect trajectories.

Affective well-being of employees is a key outcome in the occupational health literature. Yet, researchers of emotions and affect have long called for a better understanding of the dynamic nature of such experiences. Directly addressing this call, we have built on temporal schema theories and the notion of temporal depth to develop and test the anticipation of work account as a theoretical explanation of systematic weekly change patterns in positive and negative affect. Using a 7-day experience-sampling design and latent growth curve modeling, we hypothesized and found that anticipation of work linearly decreased over the course of the workweek, so did negative affect. Supporting our hypothesis that change patterns in work anticipation drive change patterns in evening affect, the linear change trajectory of anticipation was significantly related to change trajectories in positive and negative affect. Furthermore, we identified the structure of the workweek and chronic workload as boundary conditions that interact in shaping weekly change patterns in anticipation. Specifically, patterns of decreasing anticipation were most pronounced for employees with a regular Monday-Friday workweek and high chronic levels of workload, while they were weakest for employees with a regular workweek but low levels of chronic workload. Taken together, our results highlight the role of work itself and working conditions in dynamic aspects of affect. They yield theoretical and practical implications for the study of affect and its work-related experiential and behavioral consequences. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Findings and Guidelines on Provider Technology, Fatigue, and Well-being: Scoping Review.

BackgroundVideo and other technologies are reshaping the delivery of health care, yet barriers related to workflow and possible provider fatigue suggest that a thorough evaluation is needed for quality and process improvement.ObjectiveThis scoping review explored the relationship among technology, fatigue, and health care to improve the conditions for providers.MethodsA 6-stage scoping review of literature (from 10 databases) published from 2000 to 2020 that focused on technology, health care, and fatigue was conducted. Technologies included synchronous video, telephone, informatics systems, asynchronous wearable sensors, and mobile health devices for health care in 4 concept areas related to provider experience: behavioral, cognitive, emotional, and physical impact; workplace at the individual, clinic, hospital, and system or organizational levels; well-being, burnout, and stress; and perceptions regarding technology. Qualitative content, discourse, and framework analyses were used to thematically analyze data for developing a spectrum of health to risk of fatigue to manifestations of burnout.ResultsOf the 4221 potential literature references, 202 (4.79%) were duplicates, and our review of the titles and abstracts of 4019 (95.21%) found that 3837 (90.9%) were irrelevant. A full-text review of 182 studies revealed that 12 (6.6%) studies met all the criteria related to technology, health care, and fatigue, and these studied the behavioral, emotional, cognitive, and physical impact of workflow at the individual, hospital, and system or organizational levels. Video and electronic health record use has been associated with physical eye fatigue; neck pain; stress; tiredness; and behavioral impacts related to additional effort owing to barriers, trouble with engagement, emotional wear and tear and exhaustion, cognitive inattention, effort, expecting problems, multitasking and workload, and emotional experiences (eg, anger, irritability, stress, and concern about well-being). An additional 14 studies that evaluated behavioral, emotional, and cognitive impacts without focusing on fatigue found high user ratings on data quality, accuracy, and processing but low satisfaction with clerical tasks, the effort required in work, and interruptions costing time, resulting in more errors, stress, and frustration. Our qualitative analysis suggests a spectrum from health to risk and provides an outline of organizational approaches to human factors and technology in health care. Business, occupational health, human factors, and well-being literature have not studied technology fatigue and burnout; however, their findings help contextualize technology-based fatigue to suggest guidelines. Few studies were found to contextually evaluate differences according to health professions and practice contexts.ConclusionsHealth care systems need to evaluate the impact of technology in accordance with the Quadruple Aim to support providers’ well-being and prevent workload burden, fatigue, and burnout. Implementation and effectiveness approaches and a multilevel approach with objective measures for clinical, human factors, training, professional development, and administrative workflow are suggested. This requires institutional strategies and competencies to integrate health care quality, technology and well-being outcomes.

Toward an effective occupational health and safety culture: A multiple stakeholder perspective

Introduction: This paper uses an extensive review of the safety culture literature to identify three key themes (a) role of new employees, (b) absence of a pro-active approach, and (c) need for a ‘No-blame’ culture, and explores their impact on the occupational health and safety culture (OHS). Method: We use a qualitative study with a constructivist phenomenological approach consisting of 55 in-depth interviews with a diverse range of participants, including business owners, line managers and supervisors, OHS advisors, workers, and union representatives in Western Australia. A workplace vignette was used to elicit cultural norms derived from the participants’ attitudes and beliefs, which were analyzed using NVivo software to conduct a thematic analysis to classify the interview text into specific concepts and phrases. Results: Findings confirm the three themes identified from our literature review and provide useful insights into the challenges faced by the participants in the implementation of safety policies. Practical Applications: Besides extending the occupational health and safety literature, these findings have important managerial implications in view of the evolving nature of work and workplaces.

Teleworking “is here to stay”?

Over the last decade advances in Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have significantly changed the world of work, making it possible to work anytime anywhere in many sectors and occupations. This is occurring in the context of a growing knowledge-based and service economy where ICTs are key tools for work. The article emphasizes that the term “telework” encompasses various types of working styles that involve the use of information and communications technology equipment, such as telecommuting, mobile work or self-employed home-based work. There are two dominant theories in occupational health literature that facilitate our understanding of the relationship between telework and occupational health: the job-demands-resources model in occupational health psychology, and macroergonomics systems theory in ergonomics. This article analyzes that telework is not without potential negative health and wellness outcomes. In particular, employees: suffer stress and burnout from the feeling they are expected to be available outside of regular hours, regardless of whether they are actually working; feel frustration over unclear boundaries between work and life; feel isolated and disconnected from their colleagues.It is important to note that if there is to be a significant shift to telework, workers and their managers will need to manage the arrangement consciously. When the same physical space is both home and place of work, the boundary between the two worlds blurs easily, creating conflict and stress. Permanent connectivity of devices promotes an ‘always-on’. However, at the EU and national levels current legislation addresses most of the issues which have been highlighted as potential challenges linked to telework such as working time, health and safety and work-life balance.

Commuting accidents while walking: a women occupational risk

there are few studies in occupational health literature addressing the issue of work injuries among women. the purpose of this study is to examine gender differences in the occurrence and causes of one type of work injuries which is more frequent among women: the commuting accident while walking. this study is based on the data of recognized commuting while walking injuries in the industrial and service sectors recorded by the Italian National Institute for Insurance against Accidents at Work during the last five years (2014-2018). Italy; all compensated workers for commuting while walking injuries. number of injuries, rate incidence, incidence rate ratio, odds ratio. commuting while walking injuries in the last five years were three times more frequent among women, with an increasing incidence over the years and by age (women: 1,31‰ vs men 0,40‰; IR 3,24; 95%CI 3,19-3,30). Women were more often injured going to work, in winter, on Mondays, in the North-Western areas of the country. Female mail-carriers, cleaners, care givers, public administrators were particularly vulnerable, especially the less young (>=50 years old). Females were at a higher risk for fractures particularly of wrist, elbow, and foot, while males had a higher risk for hand, knee, and chest injuries. Gender difference in incidence rate and type of commuting while walking injuries may be also due to a diverse work and home exposures together with fall dynamics. commuting while walking work injuries show the higher incidence rate among women and the need to gender oriented prevention.

Work related well-being is associated with individual subjective well-being.

This study utilizes Gallup-ShareCare Well-being Index data to investigate the association between work-related well-being, i.e., job satisfaction, and overall subjective well-being among US workers. Subjective well-being is measured by i) daily positive and negative emotional experiences - happiness, smiles, enjoyment, sadness, anger, worry, and stress (hedonic well-being); and ii) current and future life evaluation (evaluative well-being). The study finds significant positive relationships between job satisfaction and subjective well-being both in terms of higher odds of positive hedonic experiences and increased life evaluation scores after controlling for covariates and other nonwork-related contributors to well-being. Job satisfaction accounted for a 14% increase in current and an 8% increase in future life evaluation scores. The results emphasize that not only the income generated by work but the quality of work is also important for worker well-being. In fact, those without a job had higher well-being than those workers who are dissatisfied at work. This is probably the first study that relates work-related well-being to overall well-being, using a nationally representative sample of US workers. Further, this is one of the few instances where the subjective measure of well-being is used in the occupational safety and health literature.

Identifying occupational therapy outcome measures supportive of recovery-orientated mental health services in Ireland

Purpose No occupational therapy outcome measures have been designed specifically for recovery-orientated services.This paper aims to identify occupational therapy outcome measures relevant to mental health practice and assess them against recovery principles adopted by Irish Mental Health Services. Design/methodology/approach A narrative review methodology was used to appraise outcome measures against CHIME recovery principles. Findings A systematic search across 13 databases identified eight well-established outcome measures commonly used within occupational therapy mental health literature. The included outcome measures were appraised using a recovery alignment tool. Practical implications All outcome measures connected to some recovery processes. Those using semi-structured interview formats and notably the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM) had the strongest alignment to recovery processes. Originality/value This is the first known review which provides some validation that the included outcome measures support recovery processes, yet the measures rely heavily on therapist’s skills for processes to be facilitated. It recommends that ways to better support the process of partnership in occupational therapy mental health outcome measures be explored and further research be undertaken.

Blood Work: Managing Menstruation, Menopause and Gynaecological Health Conditions in the Workplace.

The menstrual cycle remains neglected in explorations of public health, and entirely remiss in occupational health literature, despite being a problematic source of gendered inequalities at work. This paper proposes the new concept of blood work to explain the relationship between menstruation (and associated gynaecological health conditions) and employment for women and trans/non-binary people. We build on and extend health and organisational literature on managing bodies at work by arguing that those who experience menstruation face additional work or labour in the management of their own bodies through the menstrual cycle. We discuss how this additional labour replicates problematic elements that are identifiable in public health initiatives, in that it is individualised, requiring individual women and trans/non-binary people to navigate unsupportive workplaces. We present findings from an analysis of qualitative survey data that were completed by 627 participants working in higher education, revealing that employees’ blood work comprises distinct difficulties that are related to the management of painful, leaking bodies, access to facilities, stigma, and balancing workload. We suggest developing supportive workplaces and public health policies, which refocus the responsibility for accessible, equal workplaces that accommodate menstruating employees, and those with gynaecological health conditions.

Does it matter where you're helpful? Organizational citizenship behavior from work and home.

Organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) are commonly studied in the organizational and occupational health literature, yet, current OCB measures inherently assume individuals are performing these behaviors while physically at work. However, recent technological advances have afforded employees greater flexibility to engage in work-related behaviors at home, begging the question of whether OCBs are also being performed from home and their distinction from traditional OCBs. We provide evidence that OCBs performed while physically at work (OCB-W; i.e., traditional OCBs) are conceptually and empirically distinct from OCBs performed while physically at home (OCB-H). In Study 1 (N = 292), we examine construct validity evidence for OCB-H with regard to its distinction from OCB-W and its unique nomological network. In Study 2, we further examine the distinction between OCB-H and OCB-W at the between- and within-person level using an experience sampling approach in a sample of 162 workers. Using results from multilevel confirmatory factor analysis, we show that between-person variance in OCB-H is considerably higher than for OCB-W, and that although OCB-H and OCB-W are strongly correlated at the between-person level, they are independent of one another at the within-person level. We also examine these two forms of OCB as parallel mediators of the relation between work engagement and work interfering with family. Results suggest OCB-H and OCB-W are indeed distinct in the strength of their relationships to work engagement and work interfering with family at between- and within-person levels. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).