Work Environment Workers Research Articles

The Relationship between Job Fatigue and Fine Motor Skills in Cable Car Company’s Production Staff

Background and objective: Job fatigue is considered one of the factors affecting the performance and the productivity of workers in work environments. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to investigate the relationship between job fatigue and its dimensions with fine motor skills in the production line workers of Sabzevar Cable Car Company. Participants and methods: One hundred and forty-eight workers of the production line of Sabzevar Car Company were selected as a sample. The level of occupational fatigue of workers was measured using the standard questionnaire of Excessive Occupational Fatigue. In addition, manual and sorting skills of workers were estimated through Board test. In order to analyze the research data, Spearman's correlation coefficient test was used. Results: The results of the Spearman correlation coefficient test showed that there were negative and significant relationships between job fatigue and the components of hand and finger dexterity skill, including manual skills (r = 0.188, P ≤ 0.022) and sorting skill r (r = -0.246, P ≤ 0.003). Also, a statistically significant relationship was observed between the dimensions of fatigue and coping skills (P≤0.05). Conclusion: According to the results of the present research study, we recommend that employers prevent the occurrence of worker fatigue in industrial environments through providing conditions such as shift breaks and performing short-term activities with low intensity. Otherwise, in order to prevent accidents and the production of defective products, tired workers should refrain from performing fine manual activities such as assembling.

Knowledge Sharing in Healthcare Centers: Practices and Influences

The desire to improve health services provided to citizens in Saudi Arabia increases the need to encourage health practitioners to share their knowledge with peers. Unfortunately, there is no evidence that information and knowledge are shared in healthcare sectors. This study thus investigates the practice of knowledge sharing by workers and practitioners in primary healthcare centers. The influence of technology and management support in dissemination of the culture of knowledge sharing is also studied. The findings revealed that the staff in healthcare centers has a positive perception towards the importance of knowledge sharing in the work environment Workers have the desire to exploit all available potentials to transfer, exchange, and provide new knowledge within these centers. However, some factors were found to be barriers to sharing knowledge. Such factors include discouragement by top management as well as a lack of technology that supports knowledge management and sharing. Therefore, employees depend on their own efforts to share knowledge and apply it in the work place.

Revitalising career counselling to foster career adaptability and resilience during change and turbulence

The 21st century workplace - defined largely by the economic global meltdown in 2008 - is characterised by fundamental change and turbulence at a time when 'the digital revolution produces jobless work' (Savickas 2011a, 6). One way to address this situation is to update career counselling theory and practice. Career counselling theorists, practitioners, and researchers need to join hands to meet the career counselling requirements of their clients, including improving their career adaptability, helping them become (more) employable, and strengthening their career resilience. An active, positive approach to career counselling can help workers navigate repeated transitions in the midst of uncertainty, impermanence, despair, and the disappearance of structures that previously upheld a holding environment in the workplace. Hope must be restored in the hearts and minds of current and future employees, and decent work must be made accessible to all work seekers. According to the United Nations (UN 2006, 85): 'The Decent Work Agenda promotes access for all to freely chosen employment, the recognition of fundamental rights at work, an income to enable people to meet their basic economic, social and family needs and responsibilities and an adequate level of social protection for workers and their family members' (a definition adopted by the International Labour Organization in 1999). Decent work thus entails productive work for all workers in work environments that promote freedom, equity, security, and human dignity.

Psychological impact of the pandemic (H1N1) 2009 on general hospital workers in Kobe

In order for hospitals to work efficiently in a pandemic, it is important to know how a pandemic affects the hospital staff. The aim of the present study was to investigate the psychological impact of the pandemic (H1N1) 2009 on hospital workers and how it was affected by the characteristics of the hospital, gender, age, job and work environment. In late June 2009, soon after the pandemic had ended in Kobe city, Japan, a questionnaire was distributed consisting of questions on sociodemographic characteristics, 19 stress-related questions and the Impact of Event Scale (IES) to all 3635 employees at three core general hospitals in Kobe. Exploratory factor analysis was applied to the 19 stress-related questions, and this produced four factors for evaluation (anxiety about infection, exhaustion, workload, and feeling of being protected). Multiple regression models were used to evaluate the association of personal characteristics with each score of the four factors and the IES. Valid answers were received from 1625 employees. Workers at a hospital with intense liaison psychiatric services felt less psychological impact. Workers at a hospital that provided staff with information about the pandemic less frequently, felt unprotected. Workers in work environments that had a high risk of infection felt more anxious and more exhausted. The total IES score was higher in workers in high-risk work environments. It is important for hospitals to protect hospital workers during a pandemic and to rapidly share information about the pandemic. Liaison psychiatric services can help to reduce the impact of the pandemic on hospital workers.