Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine

Original Article

Developing a short standard questionnaire for assessing work organization hazards: the Healthy Work Survey (HWS): BongKyoo Choi, Youngju Seo; Ann Occup Environ Med 2023;35:e7. Published online April 27, 2023; DOI: https://doi.org/10.35371/aoem.2023.35.e7

Abstract PDF Supplementary Material PubReader ePub: Background
At present, no short standard questionnaire exists for assessing and comparing major work organization hazards in the workplaces of the United States.
Methods
We conducted a series of psychometric tests (content validity, factor analysis, differential-item functioning analysis, reliability, and concurrent validity) to validate and identify core items and scales for major work organization hazards using the data from the 2002–2014 General Social Surveys (GSSs), including the Quality of Worklife (QWL) questionnaire. In addition, an extensive literature review was undertaken to find other major work organization hazards which were not addressed in the GSS.
Results
Although the overall validity of the GSS-QWL questionnaire was satisfactory in the psychometric tests, some GSS-QWL items of work-family conflict, psychological job demands, job insecurity, use of skills on the job, and safety climate scales appeared to be weak. In the end, 33 questions (31 GSS-QWL and 2 GSS) were chosen as the least, but best validated core questions and included in a new short standard questionnaire (called the Healthy Work Survey [HWS]). And their national norms were established for comparisons. Furthermore, based on the literature review, fifteen more questions for assessing other significant work organization hazards (e.g., lack of scheduling control, emotional demands, electronic surveillance, wage theft) were included in the new questionnaire. Thus, the HWS includes 48 questions in total for assessing traditional and emerging work organization hazards, which covers seven theoretical domains: work schedule/arrangement, control, support, reward, demands, safety, and justice.
Conclusions
The HWS is a short standard questionnaire for assessing work organization hazards which can be used as a first step toward the risk management of major work organization hazards in the workplaces of the US.

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Review

A socioecological framework for research on work and obesity in diverse urban transit operators based on gender, race, and ethnicity: BongKyoo Choi, Peter Schnall, Marnie Dobson, Haiou Yang, Dean Baker, YoungJu Seo; Ann Occup Environ Med 2017;29:15. Published online May 17, 2017; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s40557-017-0171-2

Urban transit (bus and rail) operators, totaling nearly 700,000 persons, are one of the heaviest occupational groups in the United States (US). Little is known about occupational risk factors for weight gain and obesity and their interrelationship with health-related behaviors, particularly among female minority (African Americans and Hispanics) transit operators who are at greater risk for obesity. As a step towards developing successful obesity interventions among urban transit operators, this paper aims to present a new socioecological framework for studying working conditions, chronic strain, health-related behaviors, weight gain/obesity, and obesity disparity in diverse urban transit operators based on gender, race, and ethnicity. Our framework is a synthesis of several different theories and disciplines: the resource-work load model (work stress), occupational ergonomics, the theory of intersectionality, and worksite health promotion. The framework was developed utilizing an extensive literature review, results from our on-going research on obesity, input from focus groups conducted with Los Angeles transit operators as well as interviews and meetings with transit operator stakeholders (management, unions, and worksite transit wellness program), and ride-along observations. Our hypotheses highlighted in the framework (see Fig. 1) are that adverse working conditions, largely characterized as a combination of high demands and low resources, will increase the risk for weight gain/obesity among transit operators directly through chronic strain and hypothalamic dysfunction (hyper-and hypo-activations), and indirectly through health-related behaviors and injuries/chronic severe pain. We also hypothesize that the observed increase in adiposity among female minority operators is due to their greater exposure to adverse occupational and non-occupational conditions that reflect their intersecting social identities of lower social class and being a minority woman in the US. Our proposed framework could greatly facilitate future transit worksite obesity studies by clarifying the complex and important roles of adverse working conditions in the etiology of weight gain/obesity and obesity disparity among transit operators and other working populations.

Citations

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Paul A. Landsbergis, BongKyoo Choi, Marnie Dobson, Grace Sembajwe, Craig Slatin, Linda Delp, C. Eduardo Siqueira, Peter Schnall, Sherry Baron
American Journal of Public Health.2018; 108(3): 296. CrossRef
Work stress and health problems of professional drivers: a hazardous formula for their safety outcomes
Sergio A. Useche, Boris Cendales, Luis Montoro, Cristina Esteban
PeerJ.2018; 6: e6249. CrossRef
Work organization, health, and obesity in urban transit operators: A qualitative study
Marnie Dobson, BongKyoo Choi, Peter L. Schnall
American Journal of Industrial Medicine.2017; 60(11): 991. CrossRef

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Research Article

Ambulatory heart rate of professional taxi drivers while driving without their typical psychosocial work stressors: a pilot study: BongKyoo Choi, SangJun Choi, JeeYeon Jeong, JiWon Lee, Shi Shu, Nu Yu, SangBaek Ko, Yifang Zhu; Ann Occup Environ Med 2016;28:54. Published online October 6, 2016; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s40557-016-0139-7

Abstract PDF PubReader ePub

Background

Few studies have examined ambulatory cardiovascular physiological parameters of taxi drivers while driving in relation to their occupational hazards. This study aims to investigate and quantify the impact of worksite physical hazards as a whole on ambulatory heart rate of professional taxi drivers while driving without their typical worksite psychosocial stressors.

Methods

Ambulatory heart rate (HR_driving) of 13 non-smoking male taxi drivers (24 to 67 years old) while driving was continuously assessed on their 6-hour experimental on-road driving in Los Angeles. Percent maximum HR range (PMHR_driving) of the drivers while driving was estimated based on the individual HR_driving values and US adult population resting HR (HR_rest) reference data. For analyses, the HR_driving and PMHR_driving data were split and averaged into 5-min segments. Five physical hazards inside taxi cabs were also monitored while driving. Work stress and work hours on typical work days were self-reported.

Results

The means of the ambulatory 5-min HR_driving and PMHR_driving values of the 13 drivers were 80.5 bpm (11.2 bpm higher than their mean HR_rest) and 10.7 % (range, 5.7 to 19.9 %), respectively. The means were lower than the upper limits of ambulatory HR and PMHR for a sustainable 8-hour work (35 bpm above HR_rest and 30 % PMHR), although 15–27 % of the 5-min HR_driving and PMHR_driving values of one driver were higher than the limits. The levels of the five physical hazards among the drivers were modest: temperature (26.4 ± 3.0 °C), relative humidity (40.7 ± 10.4 %), PM_2.5 (21.5 ± 7.9 μg/m³), CO₂ (1,267.1 ± 580.0 ppm) and noise (69.7 ± 3.0 dBA). The drivers worked, on average, 72 h per week and more than half of them reported that their job were often stressful.

Conclusions

The impact of physical worksite hazards alone on ambulatory HR of professional taxi drivers in Los Angeles generally appeared to be minor. Future ambulatory heart rate studies including both physical and psychosocial hazards of professional taxi drivers are warranted.

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The Journal of Clinical Hypertension.2020; 22(6): 962. CrossRef

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Review

Very Long (> 48 hours) Shifts and Cardiovascular Strain in Firefighters: a Theoretical Framework: BongKyoo Choi, Peter L Schnall, Marnie Dobson, Javier Garcia-Rivas, HyoungRyoul Kim, Frank Zaldivar, Leslie Israel, Dean Baker; Ann Occup Environ Med 2014;26:5-5. Published online March 6, 2014; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/2052-4374-26-5

Abstract PDF PubReader ePub

Shift work and overtime have been implicated as important work-related risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Many firefighters who contractually work on a 24-hr work schedule, often do overtime (additional 24-hr shifts) which can result in working multiple, consecutive 24-hr shifts. Very little research has been conducted on firefighters at work that examines the impact of performing consecutive 24-hr shifts on cardiovascular physiology. Also, there have been no standard field methods for assessing in firefighters the cardiovascular changes that result from 24-hr shifts, what we call “cardiovascular strain”. The objective of this study, as the first step toward elucidating the role of very long (> 48 hrs) shifts in the development of CVD in firefighters, is to develop and describe a theoretical framework for studying cardiovascular strain in firefighters on very long shifts (i.e., > 2 consecutive 24-hr shifts). The developed theoretical framework was built on an extensive literature review, our recently completed studies with firefighters in Southern California, e-mail and discussions with several firefighters on their experiences of consecutive shifts, and our recently conducted feasibility study in a small group of firefighters of several ambulatory cardiovascular strain biomarkers (heart rate, heart rate variability, blood pressure, salivary cortisol, and salivary C-reactive protein). The theoretical framework developed in this study will facilitate future field studies on consecutive 24-hr shifts and cardiovascular health in firefighters. Also it will increase our understanding of the mechanisms by which shift work or long work hours can affect CVD, particularly through CVD biological risk factors, and thereby inform policy about sustainable work and rest schedules for firefighters.

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