Working environment and job adjustment among bus drivers
Schjøtt, J.
Tidsskrift for den Norske Laegeforening Tidsskrift for Praktisk Medicin Ny Raekke 122(8): 797-800
2002
ISSN/ISBN: 0029-2001 PMID: 12092072 Document Number: 551131
Bus drivers as a group have elevated health risks that are related to their working conditions. The present study measured the perception of working conditions among workers in a bus company and the results of job adjustments for health problems. Perception of working conditions was measured by a questionnaire in a cross-sectional design in which bus drivers were compared to workers in other departments of the same company. In a longitudinal design, effects of intervention were studied when a small group of workers experiencing health problems were offered job adjustments for shorter or longer periods. Duration of employment was associated with a negative perception of working conditions, particularly among bus drivers with more than 10 years' experience. Between one and three years after intervention (job adjustment), 80% of the workers recruited to the intervention were still in their jobs; 60% of the workers needed only a mean period of six months of job adjustment. A wear-and-tear effect could be associated with number of years of driving. Preventive measures to reduce further health problems among these drivers could involve job adjustments.