Safety Climate; Safety Management; and Training

Uncovering the sources and impacts of fatigue for onshore oil and gas extraction workers

November 13, 2021November 12, 2021

To better understand motor vehicle injuries and associated risk factors in the U.S. onshore oil and gas extraction (OGE) industry, NIOSH researchers set out to survey 500 OGE workers. Survey respondents reported extreme daily commutes, long work hours, and limited sleep all of which were significantly associated with risky driving behaviors and poor driving safety outcomes. The NIOSH researchers are initiating a new research study to identify and describe fatigue in this workforce. The goal of this project is to produce baseline estimates of fatigue for onshore OGE workers, develop initial guidance to employers about the types of work tasks, work schedules, and determine operational environments that should be targeted for fatigue-related interventions.

Using workers’ compensation systems to improve workplace safety and health

November 13, 2021November 12, 2021

The mission of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Center for Workers’ Compensation Studies (CWCS) is to maximize the use of workers’ compensation (WC) claims data and systems to improve workplace safety and health through partnerships. This poster presentation will describe recent and ongoing CWCS surveillance and research studies to achieve several key goals (see https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/workercomp/cwcs/publications.html).

Work, Stress, and Construction Industry’s Health: Pandemic squeeze on already fragile workforce

November 13, 2021November 12, 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic has worsened the nation?s drug overdose epidemic with both forces significantly impacting the safety, health, and well-being of the construction workforce. Our program is engaged in developing strategies to stem the tide of overdose deaths and help the rising numbers of construction workers suffering from opioid misuse disorder and poor mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our findings informed a suite of communication and training interventions, communicating the big picture and systemic issues to construction decision-makers who can change conditions for the workforce. We are also reaching out to the people most affected, those who are struggling with mental health and substance misuse disorder.

NIOSH Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing Program: Work, Stress, and Health

November 13, 2021November 12, 2021

The NIOSH Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing Program (AgFF) provides leadership and coordination between intra- and extramural efforts nationwide to prevent work-related injuries and illnesses among the nation?s agricultural, forestry, and fishing workers (AgFF). AgFF workers are exposed to high-risk, unpredictable environments, as well as long hours and shift work. Likewise, the majority of AgFF workers are in non-standard work arrangements, and unlike many sectors, most AgFF workers are specifically exempted in many regulatory policies regarding minimum wage, overtime, maximum hours per shift, child labor, and health and safety enforcement. This poster will highlight the NIOSH AgFF Program?s recent and future research, training, and outreach initiatives related to mental health and stress, sleep deprivation and fatigue, aging, workplace violence, non-standard work arrangements, and health equity in order to improve the overall health of all AgFF workers.

Working on the railroad during COVID-19: A case study analysis on employee perceptions of safety culture

November 13, 2021November 12, 2021

This mixed-methods case study analysis investigates employees? perceptions of their organization?s COVID-19 response, and seeks to examine how these perceptions relate to the organization?s safety culture. Qualitative and quantitative archival survey data collected from one large freight-carrying railroad with sites across the U.S. was utilized to conduct analyses. The top five themes extracted from a bottom-up qualitative analysis of employees? open-ended responses about their organization?s COVID-19 response are presented and discussed (n = 196). Initial quantitative analyses that examine these responses in relation to employees? perceptions of their organization?s safety culture suggest that an organization?s existing safety culture may relate to its handling of the pandemic; a finding that bolsters existing literature on the many benefits of a strong organizational safety culture. Additional analyses are currently being conducted to further explore how the top five themes that emerged from open-ended comments relate to more-specific indicators of safety culture. In this way, we may be able to more finely-tune the practical implications of this work.

The price of pain: Pain as an explanatory mechanism for the relationship between physical job demands and intentions to turnover

November 13, 2021November 12, 2021

Our presentation conceptualizes pain as an explanatory mechanism for the relationship between physical job demands and intentions to turnover (ITO), using the fear-avoidance (FA) model as the theoretical framework. Data from a multi-wave study on work capacity and aging, which included 360 participants recruited from five manufacturing organizations in the northeastern U.S., were analyzed using the SPSS PROCESS macro (model 4) to estimate direct and indirect effects, while controlling for various covariates. Our results indicated that high physical job demands were significantly related to increased perceptions of pain; high perceptions of pain and high physical job demands were significantly related to higher ITO; and the relationship between physical job demands and ITO was partially mediated by perceptions of pain. Collectively, these results indicate that ITO is a potential outcome of physical job demands, and that pain may partially explain this relationship. As such, in order to reduce instances of ITO, research as well as organizations that require employees to engage in physically demanding work should focus on uncovering interventions that may reduce an employee?s associated experience of pain.

Emotional exhaustion in healthcare workers: The importance of organizational leadership and safety

November 13, 2021November 12, 2021

In this study conducted in a mixed population of non-clinical and clinical healthcare staff, we examined the association of emotional exhaustion-a dimension of burnout-with understudied work environment exposures including organizational-level policies and practices as well as job-level hazardous work conditions, using a novel mediation analysis approach proposed by Valerie and VanderWeele. We found that job safety, emotional labor, psychological demands, physical demands, job strain, assault and negative acts (bullying) were positively associated with emotional exhaustion while organizational support for safety was negatively associated. Job hazards served as both mediator and moderator in the association between organizational support for safety and emotional exhaustion. These findings suggest that policies for organizational commitment to employee safety should be efficiently applied to ensure reduction of job hazards in order to improve burnout. Future longitudinal studies are needed to further examine this association.

Longitudinal Trends in Musculoskeletal Health, Chronic Pain, and Occupational Factors Among correctional Officers.

November 12, 2021November 12, 2021

This study investigates the trend of musculoskeletal health, chronic pain, violence/assault exposures, physical and psychosocial work factors, and individual health of Correctional Officers. A group of 120 correctional officers from two facilities were followed at two time points with self-reported survey and physical assessments. We will examine the changes in musculoskeletal health and physical and psychosocial work exposures overtime.

Safety Promotion in Turbulent Times: Development and Validation of a COVID-19 Safety Climate Scale

November 12, 2021November 12, 2021

The present study developed and validated a COVID-19 safety climate scale. This study extends the SC literature by incorporating urgent pandemic-related policies, procedures, and practices for the adequate control of COVID-19 and promotion of workplace health and well-being during the pandemic. The newly developed and validated COVID-19 SC scale consists of two levels: Organization-level COVID-19 SC (18 items) refers to the employees? perceptions of the strategies and efforts upstream in an organization; and Group-level COVID-19 SC (11 items) refers to the employees? perceptions of the intermediate support and care from supervisors.