Does Exposure to High Job Demands, Low Decision Authority, or Workplace Violence Mediate the Association between Employment in the Health and Social Care Industry and Register-Based Sickness Absence? A Longitudinal Study of a Swedish Cohort

Background: The aim of this paper was to investigate if job demands, decision authority, and workplace violence mediate the association between employment in the health and social care industry and register-based sickness absence. Methods: Participants from the Swedish Longitudinal Occupational Survey of Health who responded to questionnaires in 2006–2016 (n = 3951) were included. Multilevel autoregressive cross-lagged mediation models were fitted to the data. Employment in the health and social care industry at one time point was used as the predictor variable and register-based sickness absence >14 days as the outcome variable. Self-reported levels of job demands, decision authority, and exposure to workplace violence from the first time point were used as mediating variables. Results: The direct path between employment in the health and social care industry and sickness absence >14 days was, while adjusting for the reverse path, 0.032, p = 0.002. The indirect effect mediated by low decision authority was 0.002, p = 0.006 and the one mediated by exposure to workplace violence was 0.008, p = 0.002. High job demands were not found to mediate the association. Conclusion: Workplace violence and low decision authority may, to a small extent, mediate the association between employment in the health and social care industry and sickness absence.

A multilevel analysis of the role personality play between work organization conditions and psychological distress

Background Psychological distress in the workplace is usually attributed to work-related variables as well as non-work-related variables. Individuals working in the same organization can differ in terms of their appraisal of work-related stressors and coping strategies used to face them. The present study aims to evaluate the moderating role personality plays between work organizations conditions and psychological distress in a large sample of Canadian participants working in various occupations and workplaces. Methods Multilevel regression analyses were conducted on a sample that followed a hierarchical structure with workers (N1 = 1958) nested in workplaces (N2 = 63). The direct contribution of workplace and personality was tested in a variance component model as a first step. Following this initial step, we introduced interaction variables by blocks of 11. Those interaction variables refer to each interaction combined with a specific personality variable. Results Psychological demands, number of hours worked, job insecurity, neuroticism, and agreeableness were associated with higher levels of psychological distress. Inversely, decision authority, job recognition, self-esteem, locus of control were associated with lower levels of psychological distress. Lastly, agreeableness played a moderating role between low social support garnered from one’s supervisor and psychological distress. Conclusions To intervene on work-related variables, organizations could reduce psychological demands, minimize the number of hours worked through job redesign, allow teleworking and encourage work schedule flexibility. To reduce job insecurity, organizations could explicitly communicate future organizational plans. In the same vein, decision authority could be targeted by reducing hierarchical steps and increasing autonomy. Lastly, the results pertaining to agreeableness stand in contrast with those of previous studies. We assumed that workers scoring high on agreeableness tend to put themselves last and please others first. These tendencies could make them more susceptible to health issues. With that said, work environments still need workers who are agreeable and nice to be around. To prevent high levels of agreeableness leading to psychological distress, training and information workshops are recommended. Those include stress management interventions and workshops pertaining to time management and relaxation techniques.

The impact of musculoskeletal pain and strenuous work on self-reported physical work ability: a cohort study of Swedish men and women

Objective We investigated the separate and combined effects of musculoskeletal pain (MSP) and strenuous work (heavy physical workload (PWL)/low-decision authority) on poor physical work ability (WA). Methods This study uses baseline data from the 2010 Stockholm Public Health Questionnaire (SPHQ) including 9419 workers with good physical WA. Exposure to PWL and decision authority were estimated using sex-specific job-exposure matrices linked to occupations. Exposures (high/low) were combined with the presence of MSP. Follow-up data on physical WA were taken from the 2014 SPHQ and dichotomised (the responses: “moderate”, “rather poor” and “very poor” indicated poor WA). Logistic regression models calculated sex-specific odds ratios adjusting for age, education and health and lifestyle factors. Interaction between MSP and strenuous work was examined using the synergy index (SI). Analyses were conducted using SPSS.27. Results MSP, heavy PWL and low-decision authority were separately associated with poor WA. MSP was associated with higher odds of poor WA than strenuous work for women, the opposite for men. Combinations of MSP and strenuous work often resulted in higher risks of poor WA than when adding the effects of the single exposures (e.g., MSP and heavy PWL men: AOR 4.04 95% CI 2.00–8.15, women: AOR: 3.25 95% CI 1.81–5.83). The SI was non-significant for both sexes. Conclusion Workers with MSP and strenuous work often had higher risks of poor WA than would be expected from adding the effects of the single exposures. To decrease poor WA in this group, strenuous work should be lowered, and MSP addressed in workplaces.

682Do job stressor—mental health relationships vary by migrant status? An Australian comparative analysis

Background Migrants may be more likely to experience occupational health inequities (OHIs) than native-born workers due to higher occupational exposure, higher vulnerability to exposure-associated health impacts, or both. This study explores migrant status-related differences in vulnerability to job stressor exposures in terms of mental health in Australia. Methods Data were from wave 14 of the Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey. Migrant status was defined by country of birth (COB), the dominant language of COB, and the years since arrival in Australia. Job stressors included skill discretion, decision authority, and job insecurity. Mental health was assessed using the Mental Health Inventory-5 score (MHI-5). Data were analysed using linear regression, adjusting for gender, age, and education. Migrant status was analysed as the effect modifier of job stressor—mental health relationships. Results As expected, skill discretion and decision authority were positively, while job insecurity was negatively associated with the MHI-5 score. However, there was no statistical evidence of migrant status acting as an effect modifier of job stressor—mental health relationships even though the dominant language of COB and years since arrival in Australia have been taken into account. Conclusions The magnitudes of job stressor—mental health relationships do not differ between migrant workers and Australia-born workers. Key messages Differential exposure rather than differential vulnerability is a more important mechanism for generating occupational mental health inequities between migrants and Australian-born workers. Reducing job stressor exposures could reduce the OHIs among migrant workers in Australia.

The Effect of the Credit Deciding Authority Competency and the Effectiveness of Applying the Four Eyes Principle to Minimize Non Performing Loans on Small Medium Enterprise Segment in Pt. Bank Mandiri (Persero) Tbk Region I Sumatera I

This study aims to determine and analyze the influence of the competence of credit decision authority and the effectiveness of the application of the Four Eyes Principle to minimize non-performing loans in the Small Medium Enterprise (SME) segment at PT. Bank Mandiri (Persero) Tbk Region 1 Sumatera 1. The results of this study are expected to be useful input for controlling non-performing loans in the SME segment through developing the competency of authority holders and implementing the Four Eyes Principle as an effort to manage risks that may arise in lending. This research was conducted by distributing questionnaires to all authority holders in Region I Sumatera I consisting of SME and Retail Risk Management Units spread across the Sumatera I Region and 7 Area offices totaling 31 authority holders. In taking the sample of this study using a non-probability sampling method. The results showed that of the 5 factors that make up competence, the sub-variables of nature and character are the components that significantly play a role in the competence of the authority holder in making credit decisions. Whereas the application of the Four Eyes Principle method is the most appropriate risk management strategy in making credit decisions for the SME segment, however, the most suitable Four Eyes Principle is the Symmetry model. In this study, it was also revealed that weak monitoring is also the most important thing that should be the attention of Bank Mandiri to minimize non-performing loans. Keywords: Competence of authority holders, Four Eyes Principle, non-performing loans.

Psychosocial job characteristics and mental health: Do associations differ by migrant status in an Australian working population sample?

Migrant workers may experience higher burdens of occupational injury and illness compared to native-born workers, which may be due to the differential exposure to occupational hazards, differential vulnerability to exposure-associated health impacts, or both. This study aims to assess if the relationships between psychosocial job characteristics and mental health vary by migrant status in Australia (differential vulnerability). A total of 8969 persons from wave 14 (2014–2015) of the Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey were included in the analysis. Psychosocial job characteristics included skill discretion, decision authority and job insecurity. Mental health was assessed via a Mental Health Inventory-5 score (MHI-5), with a higher score indicating better mental health. Migrant status was defined by (i) country of birth (COB), (ii) the combination of COB and English/Non-English dominant language of COB and (iii) the combination of COB and years since arrival in Australia. Data were analysed using linear regression, adjusting for gender, age and educational attainment. Migrant status was analysed as an effect modifier of the relationships between psychosocial job characteristics and mental health. Skill discretion and decision authority were positively associated with the MHI-5 score while job insecurity was negatively associated with the MHI-5 score. We found no statistical evidence of migrant status acting as an effect modifier of the psychosocial job characteristic―MHI-5 relationships. With respect to psychosocial job characteristic―mental health relationships, these results suggest that differential exposure to job stressors is a more important mechanism than differential vulnerability for generating occupational health inequities between migrants and native-born workers in Australia.