Investigation of job stress among urban bus drivers with respect to daily noise and vibration exposures

Bus drivers are exposed to harmful agents such as noise and vibration which may led to increasing the level of job stress among them. The aim of this study was to evaluation of job stress among urban bus drivers with respect to daily noise and vibration exposures.

This cross-sectional study carried out with participation of 103 urban bus drivers in Hamadan, 2020. The drivers' exposure to noise and vibration were measured using Svan 104 and Svan 106, respectively. The job stress was measured through Phillippe L. Rice questionnaire. Data analysis preformed using SPSS 24 and the significant levels of 0.05.

The mean exposure of drivers with noise was 79.50±3.51 dB. Their exposure with whole body vibrations (WBV) and hand-arm vibrations (HAV) were 0.62±0.16 and 0.44±0.06 m/s2, respectively. Most drivers (87.4 percent) had sever job stress. A significant positive correlation was observed between noise and job stress; whereas, there was no significant correlation between WBV and HAV with job stress. 

Regarding high prevalence of severe job stress among bus drivers and the positive correlation between noise and job stress, it is highly recommended that the noise exposure were subside through periodic services and maintenance as well as applying new buses instead of the old ones.