Influence of 24-Hours Shift Work System on Occupational Stress among Iranian Firefighters

Firefighters are exposed to variety of stressors. Job related factors and shift-work system are the main stressors among Iranian firefighters. It seems necessary to study these related factors. Therefore, the present study aimed to find out what dimensions of job stress are associated with 24-hour shift-work schedule of firefighters.

After studying the validity and reliability of Persian version of NIOSH Generic Job Stress Questionnaire, 228 firefighters completed it, together with the validated version of the Survey of Shift-worker (SOS) questionnaire. The Spearman, Chi 2, Mann-Whitney and ANOVA statistical analysis were conducted through SPSS 18.

Results showed that some undesirable effects of Shiftwork in more than 60% of firefighters are medium to high. There was a significant relationship between variables of shiftwork (sleep disorders, the undesirable effects of shiftwork) and the variables of job stress (ambiguity in job future, workload, physical environment, job control, employment opportunities, non-work activities, social support from bosses, spouse, friends, relatives, subjective demands, role incompatibility, role ambiguity and job satisfaction).

The present study shows that adverse effects of 24-Hour Shiftwork and occupational stress largely interact with each other. Therefore, it could be concluded that job stress could be moderated or reduced and job satisfaction could concurrently be increased through focusing on the roots of occupational stress from the perspective of shiftwork systems.