Page 13 - Petelin, Ana, Nejc Šarabon, Boštjan Žvanut, eds. 2017. Zdravje delovno aktivne populacije ▪︎ Health of the Working-Age Population. Proceedings. Koper: Založba Univerze na Primorskem/University of Primorska Press
P. 13
Social behavioural disorders at the workplace are most commonly ex- psychophysical workload of workers in slovenia 11
pressed in different forms of violence. Workers may be victims of verbal vi-
olence, bullying (mobbing) or even sexual or racial harassment (Fiseković,
Trajković, Bjegović-Mikanović and Terzić-Supić, 2015). This is a serious social
and health problem and one that affects the psychological and physical health
of workers, on their wellbeing, and on their family and working environments.
Measuring psychophysical workload
Psychophysical workload means increased workload placed on an individu-
al. Workload is defined as the physical and mental requirements related to the
performance of specific tasks (Gudipati and Pennathur, 2016). The physical vol-
ume of work is the measurable part of the physical resources expended in the
performance of a specific task. Numerous factors affect this, including the na-
ture of the work, experience, motivation and environmental variables. Tools
for assessing physical workload include the use of evaluation techniques, phys-
ical diagrams, biomechanical analyses, measurements of energy consumption
and analyses of the Pain Assessment Scale (Melzack, 1975 in Gudipati and Pen-
nathur, 2016).
Measuring mental workload is more difficult and is defined as the amount
of cognitive work required for a person to complete a specific task within a spe-
cific period (Longo, 2016). In practice, psychophysical measurements such as
heart rate and brain activity can be employed to measure an individual’s men-
tal workload, along with an assessment of task implementation (reaction time,
etc.) and self-assessment questionnaires (Gudipati and Pennathur, 2016).
Problem
The purpose of the research was to establish how certain demographic varia-
bles affect psychophysical health at work. Borg et al. (2000) found, for example,
that women were a higher risk group than men when it came to understanding
their own health; they also had fewer opportunities to improve perceptions of
their own health. We therefore designed two research questions:
- Which demographic groups in Slovenia are currently most exposed
to psychophysical risks?
- Which professions or professional groups report the highest
psychophysical risks?
Methods
Participants and procedure
The questionnaire was completed by 490 workers (366 women and 124 men).
Twenty per cent of participants belonged to the first age group (18–26). The
highest proportion of participants belonged to the second age group (27–35,
pressed in different forms of violence. Workers may be victims of verbal vi-
olence, bullying (mobbing) or even sexual or racial harassment (Fiseković,
Trajković, Bjegović-Mikanović and Terzić-Supić, 2015). This is a serious social
and health problem and one that affects the psychological and physical health
of workers, on their wellbeing, and on their family and working environments.
Measuring psychophysical workload
Psychophysical workload means increased workload placed on an individu-
al. Workload is defined as the physical and mental requirements related to the
performance of specific tasks (Gudipati and Pennathur, 2016). The physical vol-
ume of work is the measurable part of the physical resources expended in the
performance of a specific task. Numerous factors affect this, including the na-
ture of the work, experience, motivation and environmental variables. Tools
for assessing physical workload include the use of evaluation techniques, phys-
ical diagrams, biomechanical analyses, measurements of energy consumption
and analyses of the Pain Assessment Scale (Melzack, 1975 in Gudipati and Pen-
nathur, 2016).
Measuring mental workload is more difficult and is defined as the amount
of cognitive work required for a person to complete a specific task within a spe-
cific period (Longo, 2016). In practice, psychophysical measurements such as
heart rate and brain activity can be employed to measure an individual’s men-
tal workload, along with an assessment of task implementation (reaction time,
etc.) and self-assessment questionnaires (Gudipati and Pennathur, 2016).
Problem
The purpose of the research was to establish how certain demographic varia-
bles affect psychophysical health at work. Borg et al. (2000) found, for example,
that women were a higher risk group than men when it came to understanding
their own health; they also had fewer opportunities to improve perceptions of
their own health. We therefore designed two research questions:
- Which demographic groups in Slovenia are currently most exposed
to psychophysical risks?
- Which professions or professional groups report the highest
psychophysical risks?
Methods
Participants and procedure
The questionnaire was completed by 490 workers (366 women and 124 men).
Twenty per cent of participants belonged to the first age group (18–26). The
highest proportion of participants belonged to the second age group (27–35,
