Psychosocial Factors at Work and Occupational Stress in Gas Station Attendants in Ecuador

Abstract

The aim was to determine the association between the psychosocial factors at work and occupational stress in gas station attendants in Ecuador. A transversal study was conducted, including 146 dispatchers of petroleum-derived products. The participants answer a sociodemographic data, the Instrumento de Factores Psicosociales en el Trabajo (Survey of Psychosocial Factors at Work) and the Cuestionario de Evaluación del Estrés (Stress Evaluation Survey). The mean age was of 30.05 years (SD = 8.31), being 67.7% males. The results indicated that the participants perceived a high exposition to the psychosocial factors at work Social interaction (61%), and Organizational aspects and Performance remuneration (47.3%). About the occupational stress, we observed high levels of psychoemotional symptoms (88.4%), followed by those regarding social behavior (74%). When analyzing for the associations between psychosocial factors at occupational stress, we observed several significant correlations, finding that the factors Content and characteristics of the task (p < 0.005) and Job role and carrier development (p < 0.005) presented the higher number of associations with the presence of occupational stress symptoms. We conclude that, the gas station attendants perceive a high exposition to different psychosocial factors at work, which are associated with the presence of high levels of occupational stress, being important to develop further research and interventions that promote the health and wellbeing of this group.

Occupational fatigue and health of gas station workers: A review

“…Liu et al conducted occupational health examinations and used anxiety questionnaires to investigate the sleep and emotional statuses of gas station operators and managers [54]. To study stress levels in gas station employees, all questionnaires used to conduct surveys were retrieved in the literature, such as the Cuestionario de Evaluación del Estrés (Stress Evaluation Survey), a modified Stress Diagnostic Survey (SDS) questionnaire, and a self-made questionnaire [49][50][51].…”

“…For some employees, the tasks include sales promotion and addressing customer complaints, which confers even greater pressure. Pérez et al evaluated various symptoms related to occupational stress in a group of gas station employees and found higher reports of psycho-emotional symptoms, with >70% of participants mentioning a "very high" frequency [49]. This suggests that the employees might have experienced significant stress at work.…”

Environmental Safety, Stress Levels and Gas Stations' Workers' Knowledge, Attitude and Practices Regarding Occupational Health Hazards

“…Additionally, these outcomes concurred with ELsayed et al, (2018) (1) who conducted study under title of occupational hazards among gas station workers in Egypt and they demonstrated that of the workers in the study, over one third (35.8%) were between the ages of 20 and 30. Moreover, Alb´an-P´erez et al, (2017) (22) who carried a study in Ecuador to investigate the psychosocial factors at work and occupational stress in gas station attendants and they reported that the mean age was of 30.05 years (SD= 8.31). Furthermore, these outcomes were inconsistent with OE and QM, (2018) (24) who conducted a study to assess the occupational hazards, health problems and safety practices of petrol station attendants in Nigeria and they noticed that the mean age of respondents was 24.3 ± 4.6 years.…”

Evaluation of Occupational Health Risk Management and Performance in China: A Case Study of Gas Station Workers

“…Increasing job demands and interaction with customers derived from ferocious market competition between fuel companies favor a rise in worker responsibilities. Besides, constant change in work conditions implies new workloads for workers [ 51 ]. Work overload destroys workers’ environment-coping competencies, which may produce emotional changes and symptoms of stress such as anxiety, irritability, sadness and depression, which is identified as a psychological and social risk factor [ 4 ].…”

“…Remuneration is one such psychosocial factor that leads to negative emotions in workers, mostly relating to dissatisfaction with the balance between expected work effort and the reward. Several studies have pointed out that the disparity between these job features is a psychosocial risk factor leading to other problems such as fatigue and burnout [ 51 ].…”