Iranian Journal of Ergonomics

Effectiveness of Ergonomics Job Stress Intervention (ERGO-JSI) on the Work Ability Index and Job Stress of Workers in an Auto Parts Manufacturers

Shahnaz Tabatabaei

Background and Objectives: In the automotive industry, assemblers are at the risk of job stress. There is relationship between job stress and work ability index, and job stress can impact on work ability index negatively. Therefore, this study investigates the effect of ergonomic job stress intervention (Ergo-JSI) on the work ability index and job stress of assemblers in an auto parts factory.
Methods: It was an interventional study with pre- and post-test design in the assembly section of an auto parts factory. The sample group included 80 persons who were working in this section and they were selected totally. The interventional Ergonomics-based on Job Stress Program was performed for eight weeks. Job stress questionnaires (BJSQ), work ability index (WAI), ergonomic check points (ECP), and stress prevention in the workplace (International Labor Organization) were used as research tools.
Results: The ergonomic job stress intervention (Ergo-JSI) was found to be significant on the work ability index (P <0.001). The level of work ability index was increased by 16.25% for workers (P = 0.01). Furthermore, the job stress was decreased significantly (P <0.05). The quantitative changes in the level of job stress towards reduction were based on the BJSQ criteria A (51.25%) and criteria B (27.5%); these differences were found to be significant (P <0.001).
Conclusion: Individual and organizational approaches which used for the interventional Ergonomic based on Job Stress Management Program has been effective on the decreasing of job stress and the increasing of work ability index of assemblers. Therefore, this Participatory Ergonomics Program which has an integrated approach can be improved the mental health of staff.

Identifying Occupational and Non-Occupational Factors Affecting the Retention of Health Care Employees in the Covid-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review Study

Payam Khanlari

Background and Objectives: Increasing the retention of health care workers in the context of Covid-19 expansion is one of the most important challenges for the health care systems. To design a strategy to maintain health care workers, it is necessary to identify the factors influencing willingness to work or leave the job among health care workers. This study aimed to identify the factors affecting the willingness to work or leave the job among health care workers during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Methods: To identify relevant publications, the online Databases including Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science, and ProQuest were searched on October 20, 2020. Based on the inclusion criteria, only studies that investigated the factors influencing willingness to work or motivation to leave the job among health care workers during the Covid-19 pandemic were included.
Results: Of the 610 studies found through searching, after deleting similar and unrelated studies, a number of 10 cross-sectional articles with a sample size of 15834 subjects were selected. Obtained findings indicated that the willingness to work among health care workers ranged from 61% to 98.7% and averaged 83.5%. The results of studies showed that job factors such as work experience, previous work experience in emergency time or Covid-19, workload, cooperation between employees, the relationship between employees and managers, access to personal protective equipment, and welfare facilities were significantly proportional to the willingness of health care workers to work.
Conclusion: The results of this study showed to design a strategy to maintain the health care workers during the Covid-19 pandemic, a broad range of occupational and psychological variables should be considered. Due to the limited number and quality of studies and the extent of influential variables, more studies are needed in this field.

Presenteeism and Productivity Loss Among Employees of Iranian Gas Transmission Company Manufacturers

Jafar Akbari

Background and Objectives: Presenteeism is introduced as a phenomenon according to which employees are physically present in the workplace but are functionally absent. This study aimed to investigate presenteeism and productivity loss associated with health problems among employees of the Iranian Gas Transmission Company (IGTC).
Methods: The participants were 2298 employees. Data collection instruments included the Stanford Presenteeism Scale (SPS-6) and the Health and Work Questionnaire (HWQ). Data analysis was performed using the multivariate logistic regression in SPSS software version 26.
Results: More than 52% of the participants (1189 people) had experienced presenteeism at least once a year, while a total of 1073 people (47%) were non-presenteists. The results showed that the HWQ subsets including productivity (P = 0.001), focus (P = 0.023), relationships with the manager or boss (P = 0.007), impatience and irritability (P = 0.026), workplace satisfaction (P = 0.038) and finally the total HWQ score (P = 0.011) had a statistically significant relationship with presenteeism.
Conclusion: Presenteeism reduces the productivity of the workforce by reducing individual productivity, reducing people's ability to concentrate, the inappropriate perception of the relationship with the manager/ boss, increasing their impatience, irritability and level of work-related stress and eventually reducing the level of people's satisfaction with the work environment. This imposes a lot of costs on the organization.

Using the Job-Demands-Resources (JD-R) Model in Predicting the Resilience of the Melli Bank Branch Employees of Kerman, Iran

Sanjar Salajeghe

Background and Objectives: Resilience is one of the factors affecting the job performance of employees and maintaining their health in a stressful work environment. This study aimed to apply the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model to investigate the individual resilience and the factors affecting it in Melli Bank branch employees of Kerman, Iran.
Methods: In this self-reported cross-sectional survey, 358 Melli Bank Branch Employees of Kerman city participated from August to December 2019. According to the JD-R model, the constructs including resilience, emotional intelligence, social support, and job stress, were selected as outcome, personal resource, job resource, and Job demand respectively and participants participated in the survey by answering the questionnaire designed based on these four constructs. Data were analyzed using SPSS 23 and AMOS 21 software.
Results: The results showed that resources (emotional intelligence and social support) and demand (job stress) are directly and separately related to resilience (P˂0.001 and P = 0.006, respectively), and they are also interactively related (interaction of emotional intelligence and job stress, social support and job stress, social support and emotional intelligence) (P˂0.001, P˂0.001, and P = 0.003 respectively).
Conclusion: Emotional intelligence, social support, and job stress can affect the resilience of bank employees and human resource managers in banks can help increase employee resilience by creating educational interventions in these areas.

Study of Work Ability Index (WAI) and Its Association with Demographic Characteristics Among Firefighters

Raheleh Hashemi Habybabady

Background and Objectives: Assessing the workability of employees is very important, and firefighting is one of the critical jobs. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the work ability index (WAI), and identify some effective factors among firefighters.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out with participation of 101 firefighters in Zahedan, Iran in 2018. Subjects were included in the study by census method. Data were collected using a two-part questionnaire (demographic information and WAI items), and data analysis was performed using SPSS 24.
Results: The mean of age and work experience of the subjects were 34.18±6.70 and 8.47±6.79 years, respectively. Only 18 individuals (17.8%) were single, and most of them exercised at least once a week. The mean score of WAI was 44.33±3.56 and most of the subjects were in the excellent range. With increasing age and work experience, WAI decreased, and there was also a significant relationship between marital status and weekly exercise with WAI.
Conclusions: In general, the condition of the firefighters was favorable in terms of workability. However, due to the relationship between personal characteristics and WAI, it is necessary to adjust the duties of older people with more work experience.

Investigating the Relationship Between Psychosocial Factors with Productivity of a Food Distribution Industry Employees

Behnoush Jafari

Background and Objectives: Psychosocial factors are among the factors affecting employee productivity. Since few studies have been done in this field, this study was conducted to investigate the relationship between psychosocial factors regarding productivity.
Methods: This cross-sectional and descriptive-analytical study was conducted in 2020 among 105 employees of a food distribution company in Ahvaz. Data collection tools included demographic information questionnaire, Copenhagen Psychosocial Factors Questionnaire (COPSOQ) and Goldsmith Hershey Productivity Questionnaire. Independent t-test, one-way analysis of variance and Pearson correlation coefficient were used to investigate the relationship between variables.
Results: The results showed that there was no significant relationship between any of the demographic variables with the score of psychosocial factors and productivity (P> 0.05). Psychosocial factor 2 has a negative and significant relationship with the average score of productivity, ability, role clarity, organizational support, motivation, feedback and credibility. And psychosocial factor 4 has a negative and significant relationship with motivation. The mean score of psychosocial factors, factor 1 and 3 showed a positive and significant relationship with the mean score of productivity, ability, role clarity, organizational support, motivation, feedback and credibility.
Conclusion: Considering the role of psychosocial factors on employee' productivity, it is necessary to consider organizational interventions in order to control effective psychosocial factors. More attention to psychosocial factors in the workplace can play an effective role in the efficiency and productivity of employees and the organization.

The Field Study of the Effect of Noise Exposure on Cognitive Function and Sleep Quality

Mohsen Aliabadi

Background and Objectives: Noise is known as an intruder in job environments and has non-hearing effects. The impact of noise on cognitive functions depends on the type of noise and the dose of noise exposure. This study aims to investigate the effect of noise exposure on cognitive functions and sleep quality.
Methods: This descriptive-analytical cross-sectional study was performed on 169 workers in three metal, chemical, and food industries in Hamedan in 1399. A continuous performance test was used to evaluate cognitive functions. The Petersburg questionnaire assessed participant's sleep quality. Using SVAN 971 analyzer and TES dosimeter, the level of noise exposure and the dominant frequency was measured. Data were also analyzed using linear and multiple regression in SPSS software (version 16).
Results: There is a significant difference in the level of noise exposure with changes in cognitive functions and sleep quality in the present study (P<0.001). The results of linear regression showed that there is a significant relationship between cognitive function and the level of exposure to sound (P<0.001). After identifying and determining the input variables, using multiple regression, an appropriate model was developed to predict sleep quality and sustained attention in the face of noise.
Conclusion: Based on the results of this study, predictive models with the appropriate coefficient of determination can be good models for assessing the quality of sleep and attention of people in the face of noise, which can be implemented and measured in a shorter time.

Use of Standards and Ergonomics Principles Evaluation in Iran Furniture Industry (A Case Study: Manufacturing Units Of Tehran Province)

Mohammad Ghofrani

Background and Objectives: During the past times people have used furniture as today. Along with the social welfare development and the importance of manufacturing efficiency, the importance of ergonomics and standardization in furniture became very clear so that, today it is well-known that not considering human factors in furniture manufacturing causes much human health problems. Due to the importance of furniture standardization, the present study was conducted to investigate the use of standards in furniture manufacturing units in Tehran province.
Methods: In this study, cluster sampling was performed and questionnaires were distributed among experienced manufacturers of sixty furniture manufacturing units. Statistical analysis was performed using One sample student t-test and Friedman test in SPSS 18 software.
Results: Results revealed that there was a significant difference between the indices mean and the hypothesized mean of the population. Furniture manufacturers believed that the governmental and nongovernmental institutions have appeared weak on updating furniture standards and making manufacturers familiar with standards. From their point of view, consumers have shown a great trend to buy standard and ergonomic furniture. Manufacturers also have largely tended so much to use standards and national standards conformed by international standards.
Conclusion: The manufacturing of standard furniture increases the consumer interest to buy furniture and it increases the consumer satisfaction. The high quality of imported raw materials makes furniture competitive and it causes coordination with international standards and it can assure the successful export of furniture in Iran. Successful furniture manufacturing will depend on realization of all indices mentioned in the present study.