Job stress in the staff of a tire factory

Occupational stress is a major problem in industrial societies. Its relationship with various diseases is increasing، but it probably has vast socio-economic consequences manifested in the form of absenteeism، labour turnover، loss of productivity and disability pension costs. The present study aimed at determining stress in the staff of a tyre factory. This descriptive-analytical study was done on 196 members of staff from various sections of a tire factory in 2008 through proportional classification and randomized sampling. Data was collected by means of Coudron two questionnaires «demographic» and «standardized job stress». The obtained data was analyzed using SPSS software (v: 11. 5)، chi-square test، and Pearson''s correlation coefficient (P ≤ 0. 05). It was found that 49. 5% of the staff had severe job stress. Severe job stress was 55. 8% in the production unit (No. =53)، 50% in the administrative unit (No. =16) and 40. 6% supporting the backing unit (No=28). There was a significant relationship between variables income and adequate sleep on one hand and level of job stress on the other (P < 0. 001). However، no significant relationship was observed between job stress and age، marital status، education، working record، and exercise. Based on the results of the current study، more than half of the employees suffered from job stress. Compared with employees in other industrialized countries، Iranian employees appeared to have much higher prevalence of stress. Therefore، more studies are required in order to reduce the amount of stress and its consequences.