Ergonomic stress levels, personal characteristics, accident occurrence and sickness absence among factory workers

The role of aggregate work stress, coupled with individual sensitivity to environmental stressors, in increasing the risk of accidents is highlighted, as indicated by reported job dissatisfaction and somatic complaints, and not directly to E-S-L.

Abstract

This study was designed to evaluate the association of a single, integrated measure of simultaneous exposure to a number of adverse work and environmental conditions, termed the Ergonomic Stress Level (E-S-L), on workers' accident and sickness absence rates. The factors determining the E-S-L were body motion and posture, physical effort, active hazards and environmental stressors. E-S-L evaluation was based on 'walk-through' hazard inventories, direct observations, measurements and interviews. Workers were assigned to one of four stress levels ranging from low (A) to high (D). Subjects were 729 males, aged 20-67 years, employed in five factories in Israel. A linear relationship between E-S-L AND accident incidence was found, increasing from the lowest to the highest E-S-L. Moreover, workers more sensitive to environmental stressors, as indicated by their reported subjective annoyance, showed higher accident rates across all the ergonomic stress levels, a tendency which was statistically significant at levels C and D. On the other hand, sickness absence was significantly related to the overall subjective stress experienced, as manifested by reported job dissatisfaction and somatic complaints, and not directly to E-S-L. These findings highlight the role of aggregate work stress, coupled with individual sensitivity to environmental stressors, in increasing the risk of accidents.