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Support for a Campus Tobacco-Free Policy among Non- Smokers: Findings from a Developing Country

Yasin SM, Isa MR, Fadzil MA, Zamhuri MI, Selamat MI, Mat Ruzlin AN, et al.

Asian Pac J Cancer Prev, 2016;17(1):275-80.
PMID: 26838223

BACKGROUND: A tobacco-free workplace policy is identified as an effective means to reduce tobacco use and protect people from second-hand smoke; however, the number of tobacco-free policies (TFP) remains very low in workplaces in Malaysia. This study explored the factors affecting support for a tobacco-free policy on two healthcare campuses in Malaysia, prior to the implementation of TFP.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross- sectional study was conducted among 286 non-smokers from two healthcare training centres and two nearby colleges in Malaysia from January 2015 to April 2015. A standardized questionnaire was administered via staff and student emails. The questionnaire collected information on sociodemographic characteristics, support for a tobacco-free policy and perceived respiratory and sensory symptoms due to tobacco exposure. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to estimate the independent effects of supporting a tobacco-free campus.
RESULTS: The percentage of individuals supporting completely tobacco-free facilities was 83.2% (N=238), as opposed to 16.7% (N=48) in support of partially tobacco-free facilities. Compared to the supporters of partially tobacco-free facilities, non-smokers who supported completely tobacco-free health facilities were more likely to be female, have higher education levels, to be very concerned about the effects of other people smoking on their health and to perceive a tobacco-free policy as very important. In addition, they perceived that tobacco smoke bothered them at work by causing headaches and coughs and, in the past 4 weeks, had experienced difficulty breathing. In the multivariate model, after adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics and other factors, only experiencing coughs and headaches increased the odds of supporting a completely tobacco-free campus, up to 2.5- and 1.9-fold, respectively.
CONCLUSIONS: Coughs and headaches due to other people smoking at work enhances support for a completely tobacco-free campus among non-smokers.

Matched MeSH terms: Workplace/legislation & jurisprudence
Fulltext Developing an Ensemble Predictive Safety Risk Assessment Model: Case of Malaysian Construction Projects

Sadeghi H, Mohandes SR, Hosseini MR, Banihashemi S, Mahdiyar A, Abdullah A

Int J Environ Res Public Health, 2020 11 13;17(22).
PMID: 33202768 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph17228395

Occupational Health and Safety (OHS)-related injuries are vexing problems for construction projects in developing countries, mostly due to poor managerial-, governmental-, and technical safety-related issues. Though some studies have been conducted on OHS-associated issues in developing countries, research on this topic remains scarce. A review of the literature shows that presenting a predictive assessment framework through machine learning techniques can add much to the field. As for Malaysia, despite the ongoing growth of the construction sector, there has not been any study focused on OHS assessment of workers involved in construction activities. To fill these gaps, an Ensemble Predictive Safety Risk Assessment Model (EPSRAM) is developed in this paper as an effective tool to assess the OHS risks related to workers on construction sites. The developed EPSRAM is based on the integration of neural networks with fuzzy inference systems. To show the effectiveness of the EPSRAM developed, it is applied to several Malaysian construction case projects. This paper contributes to the field in several ways, through: (1) identifying major potential safety risks, (2) determining crucial factors that affect the safety assessment for construction workers, (3) predicting the magnitude of identified safety risks accurately, and (4) predicting the evaluation strategies applicable to the identified risks. It is demonstrated how EPSRAM can provide safety professionals and inspectors concerned with well-being of workers with valuable information, leading to improving the working environment of construction crew members.

Matched MeSH terms: Workplace/standards
Psychosocial safety climate improves psychological detachment and relaxation during off-job recovery time to reduce emotional exhaustion: A multilevel shortitudinal study

Yulita, Idris MA, Abdullah SS

Scand J Psychol, 2022 Feb;63(1):19-31.
PMID: 34807489 DOI: 10.1111/sjop.12789

Psychosocial safety climate (PSC) is a facet-specific climate for psychological health and safety which constitutes an important organizational resource for creating a conducive work environment. The process to regain/restore energy expended at work, known as "recovery," also plays a pivotal role for individuals; however, this process, together with PSC, remains largely underexplored. The main purpose of this study is to investigate the role of PSC in enhancing the moderating role of individuals' psychological detachment and relaxation during weekends on the relationship between daily job demands in Week 1 and daily emotional exhaustion in Week 2. Data from a shortitudinal study of 178 teachers (in total, 534 diaries) in Terengganu, Malaysia, over two consecutive weeks, were operationalized at the individual level and daily level using Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) software. The analysis showed that the daily experience of job demands in the prior week led to an increment of emotional exhaustion in the following week. Interestingly, the interaction role of PSC*psychological detachment and PSC*relaxation moderated the relationship between daily job demands and daily emotional exhaustion. Overall, this study highlights the importance of individual off-job recovery time and that building good PSC at work is fundamental in compensating for the adverse relationships between job demands and its consequences.

Matched MeSH terms: Workplace
Analysis of the comprehensibility of chemical hazard communication tools at the industrial workplace

Ta GC, Mokhtar MB, Mohd Mokhtar HA, Ismail AB, Abu Yazid MF

Ind Health, 2010;48(6):835-44.
PMID: 20616463

Chemical classification and labelling systems may be roughly similar from one country to another but there are significant differences too. In order to harmonize various chemical classification systems and ultimately provide consistent chemical hazard communication tools worldwide, the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS) was endorsed by the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). Several countries, including Japan, Taiwan, Korea and Malaysia, are now in the process of implementing GHS. It is essential to ascertain the comprehensibility of chemical hazard communication tools that are described in the GHS documents, namely the chemical labels and Safety Data Sheets (SDS). Comprehensibility Testing (CT) was carried out with a mixed group of industrial workers in Malaysia (n=150) and factors that influence the comprehensibility were analysed using one-way ANOVA. The ability of the respondents to retrieve information from the SDS was also tested in this study. The findings show that almost all the GHS pictograms meet the ISO comprehension criteria and it is concluded that the underlying core elements that enhance comprehension of GHS pictograms and which are also essential in developing competent persons in the use of SDS are training and education.

Matched MeSH terms: Workplace
Work-related musculoskeletal disorders among assembly workers in Malaysia

Roseni Abdul Aziz, Mat Rebi Abdul Rani, Jafri Mohd Rohani, Ademola James Adeyemi

Journal of Occupational Safety and Health, 2014;11(1):33-38.
MyJurnal

Studies have identified working postures as a major risk factors associated with Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSD) in industries. This study investigated the prevalence of WMSD among assembly workers in Malaysia and how psychosocial factors such as personal values and workers relationship with family and superior are associated with discomfort and pain. A survey was conducted among 127 workers at assembly process in the manufacturing industry. The workers were aged 28.74±6.74 years and 64.6% of them were males. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to determine the effect of workplace factors on WMSD at different body regions. Spearman’s rank correlation was used to investigate association between psychosocial factors and occurrence of discomfort and pain. Only occupation and job activities revealed any significant different with WMSD in the major body regions while there was no significant difference in gender, age and work duration classifications. Shoulder painis the most prevalent in terms of frequency and intensity of occurrence. Psychosocial issues that have to do with person values, effect of job on family relationship and workers rapport with superiors are all found to be associated with the discomfort and pain among the occupational group. Employers and concerned government agencies need to take more proactive steps in tackling the problem as the occurrence of WMSD will have a significant effect on the overall wellbeing of the working population.

Matched MeSH terms: Workplace
Fulltext The validity-reliability study of the Malay version of Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire (COPSOQ) in assessing psychosocial status in relation to nature of work among workers

Fauziah Nordin, Quek Kia Fatt, Agus Salim M Banon

Journal of Occupational Safety and Health, 2005;2(1):10-18.
MyJurnal

This study aimed to validate the Malay Version of Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire for Malaysian use and application for assessing psychosocial work environment factors. Validity and Reliability were studied in 50 staff nurses of Hospital Selayang. The validity of the questionnaire was evaluated by calculating the percentage of sensitivity and specificity at the different score level. Both percentage of sensitivity against specificity were plotted to produce a ROC (Receiver Operating Characteristics) curve, and score 52 has the highest both sensitivity and specificity was used as an overall index that expresses the probability that measure the psychosocial problems. For reliability purposes, a descriptive of Test-Retest Mean Scores and Paired Sample T-Test and the coefficient-correlation test were calculated. The Test-Retest Mean Scores and Paired Sample T-Test for all 26 scales were calculated and showed statistically not significant. The reliability of the questionnaire and its 26 scales was assessed by using Pearson (r) (overall questionnaire r within a range of 0.00 to 1.00). The COPSOQ appears to be a reliable and responsive measure of workers for Malaysian use and can be applied for assessing psychosocial work environment factors.

Matched MeSH terms: Workplace
Workplace deviant behavior: Does employee psychological job demand and lack of job resources influence employee workplace deviant behavior?

Ili NN, Omar Z, Ahmad A

Jurnal Psikologi Malaysia, 2014;olume 28:39-62.

Employee deviance has received increasing attention in the past decade. Past research have reported that work environment related factors such as organizational support, supervisory support, role conflict, and job demand were associated with deviant behavior The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between job demand (psychological job demand), and job resources (social support), and employee workplace deviant behavior. This study adopts a cross-sectional correlation study design. A total of 315 employees were selected using cluster sampling technique participated in this study. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire using the drop and collect method. Data were analyzed using descriptive analysis (mean, standard deviation, frequency distribution) to describe the demographic profile and study variables. Correlation and regression analysis was performed to test the relationship between psychological job demand, and social support, and employee workplace deviant behaviors. The result revealed that lack of social support has significant positive influence on employee workplace deviant behavior. The findings suggest that lack of job resources such as social support may drive employees to engage in deviant work behavior. However, high job demand experienced by employees does not drive them towards engaging in deviant work behavior.

Matched MeSH terms: Workplace
Fulltext Prevalence of occupational diseases among small and medium industry workers in Malaysia: a systematic review

Muhammad Zubir Yusof, Nik Ahmad Kamal Nik Mahmod, Nor Azlina A. Rahman, Ailin Razali, Niza Samsuddin, Nik Mohamed Nizan Nik Mohamed, et al.

Journal of Clinical and Health Sciences, 2019;4(2):4-30.
MyJurnal

Occupational diseases are one of the major health problems related to workplace hazards.
However, the epidemiological data for this problem is scarce especially among Small and
Medium Industry (SMI) workers. These workers are vulnerable to occupational health problem
due to lack of knowledge and implementation of health and safety in the workplace. In Malaysia,
most of the SMI workers have limited coverage for basic occupational health services which
may worsen their health. Thus, this article aims to provide a review on the burden of
occupational health problems among them. The electronic and library searches were used to
extract the information from both published and unpublished articles that were not limited to any
year of publication until 2017. One hundred and ninety-six published articles and 198
unpublished articles were retrieved from the database. Only 19 published articles and 25
unpublished articles met the eligibility criteria. Prevalence data of occupational
diseases/poisoning, including overall and body specific (musculoskeletal disorders) was
extracted in raw data from the eligible studies. Prevalent statistics on occupational
musculoskeletal diseases (1.3% - 97.6%), noise-induced hearing loss (29.4% - 73.3%),
occupational skin diseases (10.5% - 84.3%), respiratory (1.9% - 92.2%) and occupational
poisoning (14.9% - 17.7%) among the working population is different within published papers
compared to unpublished ones. In Malaysia, there are no specific statistic that give a true picture
of the burden of occupational diseases in the SMI. However, this review concludes that
musculoskeletal diseases are significant occupational problems among SMI workers.

Matched MeSH terms: Workplace
Fulltext Perception study on ergonomics practices in Malaysian quarry and mining industry

Norhidayah Mat Sout, Muhamad Arifpin Mansor, Ahmad Rasdan Ismail

Journal of Occupational Safety and Health, 2015;12(1):197-202.
MyJurnal

Ergonomics can be viewed as an approach to reduce injury and illness rates to improve the overall working
conditions for employees by addressing risk factor exposure that may occur during manual tasks. The objective
of this research was to analyze ergonomics risk factors by associating the perception of employer and employees
towards their workplace condition in quarry and mining industry. A Questionnaire on Ergonomics Risk Assessment
was used to determine the comparison level awareness and perception analysis among quarry and mining industry in
Malaysia. The findings of this research prove that the exposure of ergonomics risk factors towards the workers is in
a moderate level with a mean of 3.59 for the overall respondent review about the ergonomics risk among workers at
their workplace. Besides, the most concern in ergonomics is about the awkward posture at work. Some 8.8% of them
agreed and 6.6% of them totally agreed that they were in awkward posture while doing their work. As a conclusion,
assessment of ergonomics in quarry and mining industry will be a platform to provide a safe and healthy working
environment.

Matched MeSH terms: Workplace
Fulltext Analysis of the perception of occupational accidents in mining and quarrying sector towards a safe and healthy working environment

Nur Azlina Abd Rahman, Muhamad Arifpin Mansor, Ahmad Rasdan Ismail

Journal of Occupational Safety and Health, 2015;12(1):165-170.
MyJurnal

The occurrences of occupational accidents and incidents are increasing in parallel with the growth of industries
such as mining and quarrying. The main objective of this study was to analyze data on the perception of occupational
accidents in the mining and quarrying sector in Malaysia. The data was collected and examined based on the
questionnaires on the level of perception of accident investigation in mining and quarrying sector. Statistical data
reported by the Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) was also reviewed. The findings of this study
prove that the level of perception of workers towards occupational accident issues in mining and quarrying sector
is still in the moderate level with the mean value of 3.28. The findings show that 51.7% of the workers agree while
25.9% totally agree to the accident occurrence. Only 1.7% of the workers are not aware of accident occurrence at the
workplace. Employers and employees must carry out their responsibilities to prevent accidents by adhering to health
and safety practices at the workplace.

Matched MeSH terms: Workplace
Fulltext Behaviour-Based Safety (BBS) implementation reduce incidents at the workplace in major industry

Rosliza Osman, Noorhasimah Awang, Siti Nasyrah Ibrahim, Siti Nurani Hassan, Norsyahidah Mohammad Yusof, Jais Suratman, et al.

Journal of Occupational Safety and Health, 2015;12(1):105-108.
MyJurnal

Unsafe behaviour is the key factor which contributes to the high number of incidents. Applying Behavior-Based
Safety (BBS) into safety risk controls has been adopted in major industry toward improving safety performance.
This approach to prevent incident has a number of advantages. The objective of this study is to identify the BBS
factors which can contribute to reduce incidents at the workplace. Human factors, behaviour and environment have
been identified as BBS factors. Human factors are influenced by knowledge and understanding of the workers while
behaviour factors are influenced by culture and practices in a daily life. In addition, environmental factor involves
equipment and work area. For an effective BBS approach, level of knowledge, understanding and practices by the
workers become the main concerns in the implementation of BBS. The findings can become the reference model for
future implementation in other organizations and as a guidance for better safety management.

Matched MeSH terms: Workplace
Workplace Cyberbullying and Interpersonal Deviance: Understanding the Mediating Effect of Silence and Emotional Exhaustion

Anwar A, Kee DMH, Ahmed A

Cyberpsychol Behav Soc Netw, 2020 May;23(5):290-296.
PMID: 32282237 DOI: 10.1089/cyber.2019.0407

Workplace cyberbullying (WCB) is a new form of hostility in organizations in which information technology is used as a means to bully employees. The objective of this study is to determine the association between WCB and the interpersonal deviance (ID) of victims through parallel mediation through the ineffectual silence of employees and emotional exhaustion (EE). Conservation of resource (COR) theory and affective events theory were used as the study's guiding framework, and data were drawn from 351 white-collar employees who were employed in a variety of industries-such as banking, telecommunications sector, education, health care, insurance, and consultancy-in Lahore, Pakistan. The results show that ineffectual silence negatively mediated the relationship between cyberbullying and deviance, decreasing the level of deviance of employees who used silence as a coping mechanism. EE, however, positively mediated the relationship between cyberbullying and deviance. This means that when employees felt emotionally overwhelmed they retaliated by engaging in deviant behaviors and acting as a bully toward colleagues. Drawing on the COR theory and the affective events theory, the findings show that WCB has an impact on ID. From a practical standpoint, the study reveals that WCB can lead to ID and it also may associate with large financial costs and workplace disruptions. Thus, organizations should establish a culture that prevent employees from engaging in WCB and adopt practices of prevention and intervention because it is not only harmful to the employees but also to the organization.

Matched MeSH terms: Workplace*
Fulltext Exploring healthcare professionals' knowledge, attitude, and practices towards pharmacovigilance: a cross-sectional survey

Hussain R, Hassali MA, Hashmi F, Akram T

J Pharm Policy Pract, 2021 Jan 04;14(1):5.
PMID: 33397478 DOI: 10.1186/s40545-020-00287-3

BACKGROUND: Spontaneous reporting of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) is a method of monitoring the safety of drugs and is the basic strategy for the post-marketing surveillance of the suspected drugs. Despite its importance, there is very little reporting of ADRs by healthcare professionals. The present study has evaluated the knowledge, attitude and practices of health care professionals (HCPs) regarding pharmacovigilance activities in Lahore, Pakistan.
METHODS: A cross-sectional questionnaire-based survey was employed, and a convenience sampling was opted to collect the data among physicians, pharmacists and nurses working in tertiary care public hospitals of Lahore, Pakistan from September 2018 to January 2019.
RESULTS: Of the 384 questionnaires distributed, 346 health care professionals responded to the questionnaire (90.10% response rate). Most participants had good knowledge about ADR reporting, but pharmacist had comparatively better knowledge than other HCPs regarding ADR (89.18%) pharmacovigilance system (81.08%), its centres (72.97%) and function (91.89%). Most of the participants exhibited positive attitude regarding ADR reporting, such as 49.1% of physicians (P

Matched MeSH terms: Workplace
Security robot for the prevention of workplace violence using the Non-linear Adaptive Heuristic Mathematical Model

Tao H, Rahman MA, Al-Saffar A, Zhang R, Salih SQ, Zain JM, et al.

Work, 2021;68(3):853-861.
PMID: 33612528 DOI: 10.3233/WOR-203419

BACKGROUND: Nowadays, workplace violence is found to be a mental health hazard and considered a crucial topic. The collaboration between robots and humans is increasing with the growth of Industry 4.0. Therefore, the first problem that must be solved is human-machine security. Ensuring the safety of human beings is one of the main aspects of human-robotic interaction. This is not just about preventing collisions within a shared space among human beings and robots; it includes all possible means of harm for an individual, from physical contact to unpleasant or dangerous psychological effects.
OBJECTIVE: In this paper, Non-linear Adaptive Heuristic Mathematical Model (NAHMM) has been proposed for the prevention of workplace violence using security Human-Robot Collaboration (HRC). Human-Robot Collaboration (HRC) is an area of research with a wide range of up-demands, future scenarios, and potential economic influence. HRC is an interdisciplinary field of research that encompasses cognitive sciences, classical robotics, and psychology.
RESULTS: The robot can thus make the optimal decision between actions that expose its capabilities to the human being and take the best steps given the knowledge that is currently available to the human being. Further, the ideal policy can be measured carefully under certain observability assumptions.
CONCLUSION: The system is shown on a collaborative robot and is compared to a state of the art security system. The device is experimentally demonstrated. The new system is being evaluated qualitatively and quantitatively.

Matched MeSH terms: Workplace Violence
Fulltext Job satisfaction and turnover intention among Iraqi doctors--a descriptive cross-sectional multicentre study

Ali Jadoo SA, Aljunid SM, Dastan I, Tawfeeq RS, Mustafa MA, Ganasegeran K, et al.

Hum Resour Health, 2015;13:21.
PMID: 25903757 DOI: 10.1186/s12960-015-0014-6

BACKGROUND: During the last two decades, the Iraqi human resources for health was exposed to an unprecedented turnover of trained and experienced medical professionals. This study aimed to explore prominent factors affecting turnover intentions among Iraqi doctors.
METHODS: A descriptive cross-sectional multicentre study was carried out among 576 doctors across 20 hospitals in Iraq using multistage sampling technique. Participants completed a self-administered questionnaire, which included socio-demographic information, work characteristics, the 10-item Warr-Cook-Wall job satisfaction scale, and one question on turnover intention. Descriptive and bivariate and multiple logistic regression analyses were conducted to identify significant factors affecting turnover intentions.
RESULTS: More than one half of Iraqi doctors (55.2%) were actively seeking alternative employment. Factors associated with turnover intentions among doctors were low job satisfaction score (odds ratio (OR) = 0.97; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.95, 0.99), aged 40 years old or less (OR = 2.9; 95% CI: 1.74, 4.75), being male (OR = 4.2; 95% CI: 2.54, 7.03), being single (OR = 5.0; 95% CI: 2.61, 9.75), being threatened (OR = 3.5; 95% CI: 1.80, 6.69), internally displaced (OR = 3.1; 95% CI: 1.43, 6.57), having a perception of unsafe medical practice (OR = 4.1; 95% CI: 1.86, 9.21), working more than 40 h per week, (OR = 2.3; 95% CI: 1.27, 4.03), disagreement with the way manager handles staff (OR = 2.2; 95% CI: 1.19, 4.03), being non-specialist, (OR = 3.9, 95% CI: 2.08, 7.13), and being employed in the government sector only (OR = 2.0; 95% CI: 1.09, 3.82).
CONCLUSION: The high-turnover intention among Iraqi doctors is significantly associated with working and security conditions. An urgent and effective strategy is required to prevent doctors' exodus.

Matched MeSH terms: Workplace
Fulltext Editorial: Health and safety issues of employees in family firms

Bari MW, Ramayah T, Di Virgilio F, Alaverdov E

Front Public Health, 2023;11:1102736.
PMID: 36817924 DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1102736
Matched MeSH terms: Workplace*
Fulltext Psychosocial Work Environment and Teachers' Psychological Well-Being: The Moderating Role of Job Control and Social Support

Ibrahim RZAR, Zalam WZM, Foster B, Afrizal T, Johansyah MD, Saputra J, et al.

Int J Environ Res Public Health, 2021 07 08;18(14).
PMID: 34299757 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18147308

Nowadays, the issue of teachers' psychological well-being causes serious concern, especially in Malaysia. Many studies related to psychological well-being have focused on students rather than on the health and well-being of teachers. Thus, the current study investigated the determinants of psychological well-being (depression, anxiety and stress) from the psychosocial work environment (job control, job demands and social support), and examined the moderating role of job control and social support in the relationship between job demands and psychological well-being among teachers. The design of this study was quantitative research through a survey questionnaire. The sample consisted of 335 high school teachers (23.3%-male; 76.7%-female) who responded to measuring scales of job demands, job control, social support, depression, anxiety and stress, and socio-demographic profile. The data were analyzed using two statistical methods, namely descriptive and inferential statistics. The hierarchical linear regression model was used to analyze the data by assisting the statistical software, i.e., SPSS-23. The results showed that job demands, job control and social support significantly predicted teachers' psychological well-being. Furthermore, the effect of job demands on teachers' depression and anxiety was partially moderated by job control and social support. In conclusion, this study has successfully identified the significant predictors of teachers' psychological well-being and the role of job control and social support as a moderating variable to teachers' psychological well-being in Malaysia. The result provides insights and contributes to the literature of teachers' psychological well-being determinants and involves Malaysian respondents with a collectivistic eastern culture.

Matched MeSH terms: Workplace*
Fulltext Workplace Mental State Monitoring during VR-Based Training for Offshore Environment

Abu Hasan R, Sulaiman S, Ashykin NN, Abdullah MN, Hafeez Y, Ali SSA

Sensors (Basel), 2021 Jul 18;21(14).
PMID: 34300624 DOI: 10.3390/s21144885

Adults are constantly exposed to stressful conditions at their workplace, and this can lead to decreased job performance followed by detrimental clinical health problems. Advancement of sensor technologies has allowed the electroencephalography (EEG) devices to be portable and used in real-time to monitor mental health. However, real-time monitoring is not often practical in workplace environments with complex operations such as kindergarten, firefighting and offshore facilities. Integrating the EEG with virtual reality (VR) that emulates workplace conditions can be a tool to assess and monitor mental health of adults within their working environment. This paper evaluates the mental states induced when performing a stressful task in a VR-based offshore environment. The theta, alpha and beta frequency bands are analysed to assess changes in mental states due to physical discomfort, stress and concentration. During the VR trials, mental states of discomfort and disorientation are observed with the drop of theta activity, whilst the stress induced from the conditional tasks is reflected in the changes of low-alpha and high-beta activities. The deflection of frontal alpha asymmetry from negative to positive direction reflects the learning effects from emotion-focus to problem-solving strategies adopted to accomplish the VR task. This study highlights the need for an integrated VR-EEG system in workplace settings as a tool to monitor and assess mental health of working adults.

Matched MeSH terms: Workplace
Fulltext Impact of Safety Culture on Safety Performance; Mediating Role of Psychosocial Hazard: An Integrated Modelling Approach

Naji GMA, Isha ASN, Mohyaldinn ME, Leka S, Saleem MS, Rahman SMNBSA, et al.

Int J Environ Res Public Health, 2021 08 13;18(16).
PMID: 34444314 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18168568

We conceptualize that safety culture (SC) has a positive impact on employee's safety performance by reducing their psychosocial hazards. A higher level of safety culture environment reduces psychosocial hazards by improving employee's performance toward safety concerns. The purpose of this study was to evaluate how psychosocial hazard mediates the relationship between safety culture and safety performance. Data were collected from 380 production employees in three states of Malaysia from the upstream oil and gas sector. Structural equation modeling was implemented to test the suggested hypotheses. The proposed model was evaluated using structural equation modeling. A stratified sampling with a Likert 5-point scale was used to distribute the questionnaires. Furthermore, the proposed model was tested using the simulation of the structural equation and partial. According to our findings, all hypotheses were significant. A review of prior studies was used to select the items of the dimension for the data collection. Safety culture was assessed with psychosocial hazard to determine its direct and indirect impact on safety performance. Results suggest that to enhance safety performance (leading and lagging), psychosocial concerns in the workplace environments should be taken into consideration by employees. In addition, the findings showed that the psychosocial hazard fully mediates the relationship between safety culture and safety performance.

Matched MeSH terms: Workplace*
Fulltext Prevalence of common mental health issues among migrant workers: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Hasan SI, Yee A, Rinaldi A, Azham AA, Mohd Hairi F, Amer Nordin AS

PLoS One, 2021;16(12):e0260221.
PMID: 34855800 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0260221

Previous literature has shown that migrant workers manifested higher common mental issues (especially depressive symptom) compared to local workers due to stressors such as financial constraint and lack of access to healthcare. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to summarize the current body of evidence for the prevalence of depression and anxiety among migrant workers as well as exploring the risk factors and the availability of social support for migrant workers. Seven electronic databases, grey literature and Google Scholar were searched for studies from 2015 to 2021 related to mental health, social support and migrant workers. Study quality was assessed using the Newcastle Ottawa Scale and the Joanna Briggs Institute Qualitative Assessment and Review Instrument (JBI-QARI). Study heterogeneity was evaluated using I2 statistics. Random effects meta-analysis results were presented given heterogeneity among studies. The search returned 27 articles and only seven studies were included in meta-analysis, involving 44 365 migrant workers in 17 different countries. The overall prevalence of depression and anxiety among migrant workers was 38.99% (95% CI = 0.27, 0.51) and 27.31% (95% CI = 0.06, 0.58), respectively. Factors such as age, biological (health issue, family history of psychiatric disorder), individual (poor coping skills), occupational (workplace psychosocial stressors, poor working condition, salary and benefits issue, abuse), environmental (limited access towards healthcare, duration of residence, living condition) and social factor (limited social support) were associated with a mental health outcome in migrant workers. The availability of social support for migrant workers was mainly concentrated in emotional type of support. A high prevalence of depression and anxiety was found among migrant workers across the globe. This finding warrants a collective effort by different parties in providing assistance for migrant workers to promote their mental well-being.

Matched MeSH terms: Workplace

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