Shift work increases chronic disease risk, but specific contributing factors, such as diet and lifestyle remain unclear. We compared eating habits and lifestyle characteristics between male and female shift and daytime workers across a variety of occupations using data from the 2018 Japan National Health and Nutrition Survey (n=1,814). Our analysis focused on food intake, lifestyle characteristics, and considerations in food selection between shift and daytime workers. Both male and female shift workers consumed significantly less fish and shellfish and had a shorter sleep duration than daytime workers. Male shift workers were more likely to select food based on preference and convenience than male daytime workers. Female shift workers consumed less milk and dairy products, and were less likely to choose foods based on seasons and seasonality than female daytime workers. These findings suggest that both male and female shift workers should be encouraged to increase their intake of fish and shellfish, while prioritizing adequate sleep and dietary variety; additionally, female shift workers in particular should be advised to increase their consumption of milk and dairy products for maintaining health. Adopting these nutritional and lifestyle adjustments is essential for mitigating the long-term health risks associated with shift work.
Presenteeism among workers with pain has been linked to various cognitive and psychological factors; however, their structural relationships remain insufficiently understood. This study examined the structural relationships among pain catastrophizing, pain self-efficacy, psychological distress, and presenteeism among workers experiencing pain that interfered with work or daily life. An internet-based survey was conducted among 700 Japanese workers aged 20-60 years, of whom 459 who reported pain interfering with work or daily life during the preceding month were included in the analysis. Pain self-efficacy, pain catastrophizing, psychological distress, and presenteeism were assessed using validated Japanese versions of standardized questionnaires. A hypothesized path model was tested using path analysis to evaluate model fit and structural associations. The results demonstrated good model fit. Pain self-efficacy was directly and indirectly associated with presenteeism, whereas pain catastrophizing was indirectly associated with presenteeism through psychological distress. Notably, pain self-efficacy was broadly associated with multiple factors, including pain catastrophizing and psychological distress, as well as presenteeism. Higher pain self-efficacy was associated with reduced presenteeism, with associations partly observed through pain catastrophizing and psychological distress. These findings suggest that pain self-efficacy may represent a promising focus for future interventions aimed at reducing presenteeism among workers experiencing pain.
Professional bus drivers are exposed to occupational hazards leading to chronic disease, including musculoskeletal disorders and joint pain. Here, we investigated factors associated with joint pain among Swiss bus drivers. We used data from the Transport Personnel Health Cohort (TRAPHEAC-N=549), a Swiss bus driver cohort, and the Swiss Health Study (SHeS-N=1,364), a population-based study. Joint pain was assessed using the Nordic questionnaire. Exposures included vibrations, ergonomics, work organization, stress, BMI, smoking, and physical activity. Associations were analyzed using logistic regression and random forest models. Joint pain was prevalent in TRAPHEAC, especially in the neck (67%), lower-back (59%), shoulders (54%), and upper-back (45%). Comparatively, back pain prevalence in SHeS was 11% (odds-ratios comparing TRAPHEAC with SHeS: 1.89). Logistic regression showed associations between seat and floor vibrations with neck, upper-back, and elbows (odds-ratios 1.1-1.5), while stress was associated with joint pain across all regions. BMI and ergonomics were associated with selected pain locations. Random forest models, using permutation importance, identified stress (shoulder, upper-back, lower-back, and knee pain) with seat vibrations and ergonomics (neck and ankle pain), as the most influential predictors of joint pain. Despite modern infrastructure, joint pain remains prevalent among Swiss bus drivers, supporting prevention targeting biomechanical and psychosocial factors.
Falls on the same level (FSLs) are a major cause of occupational injuries in the social welfare industry, especially in aging societies. Here, we conducted a questionnaire survey to investigate how social welfare workers perceive the risk of occupational accidents, with a focus on FSLs, and to examine the effects of age on risk perception. Respondents (n=294) rated their estimated likelihood of experiencing five major types of occupational accidents across six levels of injury severity. The results indicated that the FSL risk was not consistently underestimated relative to other accident types. However, when the subjective risk was compared with the objective accident frequency, the non-fatal FSL risk was systematically underestimated, whereas the fatal FSL risk was overestimated. Perceived risk of leaving work for more than 3 months due to non-fatal occupational accidents also decreased with age across accident types, with younger workers reporting the highest estimates and older workers the lowest. These findings suggest that underestimation of FSL risk is specific to certain injury severities and that age-related differences in risk perception are robust. Understanding how workers perceive fall risk may contribute to the development of age-sensitive interventions to improve fall prevention in the social welfare sector.
Reports remain limited on individual eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) for prolonged trauma-related symptoms linked to occupational memories after COVID-19 administrative redeployment among public health nurses. A woman in her 30s working as a public health nurse developed prolonged depressive symptoms, intrusive recollections, nightmares, and hyperarousal after reassignment to unfamiliar COVID-19 administrative duties. During inpatient treatment in 2021, EMDR was applied to early family-related memories in routine care, whereas occupational memories were deferred and later remained symptomatically active. Symptoms persisted despite pharmacotherapy and two courses of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation. Between June and October 2025, she received six outpatient EMDR sessions targeting occupational memories related to citizen complaints, procedural ambiguity, and workplace conflict. Scores on the Posttraumatic Diagnostic Scale for DSM-5, PTSD Checklist for DSM-5, and Impact of Event Scale-Revised decreased from 31, 32, and 25 in June 2025 to 12, 11, and 7 in December 2025, respectively. Available session-level records suggested reduced distress in documented target assessments, although ratings were not recorded uniformly across sessions. This case illustrates the clinical relevance of assessing occupational memories as possible contributors to persistent trauma-related symptoms after administrative redeployment.
Volatile aromatic hydrocarbons, including benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes (BTEX), are widely used in paint manufacturing and can create occupational health hazards because of their toxicity and high volatility. This study assessed personal and exposure levels of BTEX compounds among workers in small- and medium-sized paint factories in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Air samples were collected using charcoal tubes and analyzed by gas chromatography with a flame ionization detector (GC-FID). Statistical analyses, including correlation and principal component analysis (PCA), were used to identify emission patterns and likely exposure sources. Benzene was not detected in any samples, whereas toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes were consistently present and frequently exceeded occupational exposure limits set by ACGIH and OSHA. The highest mean concentrations were found in mixing, grinding, and packaging operations, suggesting inadequate ventilation and direct solvent handling. Strong correlations between ethylbenzene and xylenes indicated shared emission sources from mixed solvent formulations. PCA showed that exposure variability was mainly process-related, with distinct components linked to blending and hardener-related activities. Chronic exposure to these levels may cause neurological, hepatic, and hematological effects, especially in workers with limited protection. The study highlights the need for engineering controls, worker training, and substitution with low-VOC or water-based products.
This study examines long-term occupational accident patterns in a chemical plant using approximately fifty years of internal incident records. These records were originally compiled for day-to-day safety management rather than for research purposes. They offer a rare retrospective view of how human-factor-related accidents and everyday safety practices actually evolved during long-term operation. Long-term trends in accident counts, frequency rates, and severity rates show a decline. However, closer examination indicates that as technical and equipment-related risks were reduced, incidents involving human judgment and action became relatively more prominent. In this sense, risk changed its form within the work environment. To explore this shift, incidents were examined using a cross-classification of "type of incident × unsafe behavior," together with a distinction between routine and non-routine operations. The analysis indicates that non-routine activities-such as maintenance and troubleshooting-remain particularly vulnerable to human-factor-related issues. When viewed through the lens of Hudson's safety culture maturity model, these patterns suggest a gradual transition from reactive to proactive practices. Rather than proposing a model of safety culture, this case study illustrates how long-term incident records reflect the practical, trial-and-error process of managing human factors and work. The findings offer insights for loss prevention and human-factor management.
Work stress has been investigated at distinct levels that inflict detrimental impacts on employees' well-being. Despite extensive research, it is unclear how employees who share demands collectively across teams seek recovery to mitigate the adverse effect of team demands on strains. Drawing from multilayer demands, we aim to understand how recovery experiences moderate the relationship between multiple job demands, fatigue, and sleep problems. Two-wave multilevel longitudinal data were collected from 248 (44 departments) and 155 (28 departments) academicians in public universities over a four-month interval and analysed using Hierarchical Linear Modelling. It emerged that psychological detachment served to moderate the relationship between individual emotional demands and fatigue and has a moderating effect between team demands (not physical) and sleep problems. Relaxation attenuates the relationship between individual physical demands and sleep problems and has an interaction effect on team-related physical demands and fatigue. Thus, the management should prioritize recovery-promoting strategies and interventions in team settings.
Long working hours are public health concern globally. However, their association with all-cause and cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality remains underexplored. This cohort study investigated the relationship between long working hours and all-cause and CVD mortality. A nationwide sample of 22,582 Korean workers (10,266 men, 12,316 women) was analyzed. Weekly working hours were measured at baseline. The outcomes were the all-cause and CVD deaths. Cox regression models were used to determine the relation between working hours and mortality outcomes using a sex-stratified analysis, calculating hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). During a median follow-up of 9.6 years, 670 all-cause deaths and 129 CVD deaths occurred. In the male workers, the HRs (95% CIs) for the association of working ≥55 h/week with mortality outcomes were 1.52 (1.06-2.17) for all-cause mortality and 2.59 (1.02-6.56) for CVD mortality, compared with working 35-40 h/week. In the female workers, the HRs (95% CIs) for the association of working ≥55 h/week with mortality outcomes were 0.74 (0.41-1.33) for all-cause mortality and 1.11 (0.31-6.92) for CVD mortality, compared with working 35-40 h/week. In conclusion, this study suggests that long working hours are linked to all-cause and CVD mortality among male workers.
Diisocyanates (DIs) are widely used industrially. Measuring the total reactive isocyanate group (TRIG) is important because the isocyanate group (-NCO) is considered responsible for inducing sensitization. However, practical and cost-effective methods for occupational exposure measurement are limited due to the high reactivity of the -NCO and the complex composition and distribution of TRIG in workplace air. This study evaluated a method using 1-(2-methoxyphenyl) piperazine (MOPIP) as a derivatization reagent in an LC-UV/FLD analytical system. Hexamethylene diisocyanate (HDImono), 4,4'-diphenylmethane diisocyanate (MDImono) monomers, and a mixture of HDI oligomers (HDITRIG) were selected as model compounds. The results revealed that the response ratios of the two detectors (UV280/242 nm and UV242 nm/FLD) of HDImono are useful indicators for identifying HDITGIG. Using MOPIP-impregnated filters (MOPIP-GFF), HDImono, MDImono, and HDITRIG can be measured in the ranges of 20 to 20,000, 12 to 24,500 and 92 to 9,200 ng/filter, respectively. Furthermore, the MOPIP-GFF and DI samples were relatively stable at both 4℃ and room temperature. Overall, this method exhibited good reliability over a wide concentration range for airborne HDImono, MDImono, and HDITRIG. Moreover, it is more convenient for field investigations than other methods, using a stable, readily available derivatization reagent and conventional UV and fluorescence detectors.
Working from home (WFH) has become increasingly common since the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic; however, its association with sleep among workers remains unclear. This study examined the relationship of WFH frequency with sleep duration and sleep quality among non-shift white-collar workers. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted among non-shift office workers of a single Japanese company; 33,744 participants without missing data were analyzed. Participants were categorized into five groups according to WFH frequency: Office (0%), Low (1-20%), Moderate (21-80%), High (81-99%), and Home (100%). The endpoints were sleep duration ≥6 h, restorative sleep (RS), and their combination. Multiple logistic regression analyses were performed to evaluate associations between WFH frequency and sleep outcomes after adjusting for confounding factors compared with the Moderate group. A higher WFH frequency was significantly associated with a higher odds ratio (OR) of sleeping ≥6 h. The Home group had a lower OR of RS. The highest OR for achieving both sleep duration ≥6 h and RS was observed in the High group (OR 1.10; 95% confidence interval 1.03-1.17). Moderate-to-high levels of WFH may provide a balance between achieving a sleep duration ≥6 h and better subjective sleep quality among non-shift white-collar workers.
International students and workers in South Korea experience multiple stressors that may increase vulnerability to poor sleep and suicidal behavior. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 824 participants, including 474 workers and 350 students from 10 Asian countries. Sleep quality and suicidal behavior were assessed using the PSQI and the SBQ-R. Poor sleep quality (PSQI >5) was reported by 57.4% of participants, and 9.3% met criteria for high suicide risk (SBQ-R ≥7). A significant association was observed between sleep quality and suicide risk (χ²(1)=20.71, p<0.001). Logistic regression analysis indicated that individuals with poor sleep had higher odds of high suicide risk (OR=3.53, 95% CI [1.90, 6.57], p<0.001), after adjusting for demographic factors. Male participants demonstrated significantly lower odds of suicide risk compared to female participants (OR=0.237, p=0.008). Linear regression analysis further showed that poorer sleep quality was significantly associated with higher suicidal behavior scores (β=0.21, p<0.001). These findings suggest that sleep quality is significantly associated with suicide risk among foreign residents in South Korea.
The aim of this scoping review was to provide an overview and classification of the studies on workplace health interventions targeted at commercial heavy vehicle drivers. Of the 36 publications included, 28 concerned solely truck drivers, five solely bus drivers, and the remaining three included professionals also from other related fields. The participants were mostly male. Most of the studies (20 publications) examined individual-focused interventions, seven studies focused on organizational interventions, and nine studies addressed both. None of the interventions focused on improving drivers' access to healthcare. More than half of the studies included some form of technological tools. The duration of the interventions was predominantly several months; however, only eight studies reported results after a follow-up period. For future studies, four areas for development were identified. First, collecting and reporting gender-disaggregated data is required to address the unique health needs among female drivers. Second, when using technology, consideration should be given to its usability across the entire workforce and the support needed from human professionals. Third, including systematic follow-up periods would help to understand how long-lasting a behavior change is and what impact it has on health outcomes. Finally, further studies focusing on organizational interventions are especially needed.
On the 10th of October 2025, the World Day for Mental Health, a high-level policy event on psychosocial risks and mental health in the future of work was organised by the European Academy of Occupational Health Psychology (EAOHP) at the International Labour Organization Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. The event brought together global policymakers, United Nation leaders, social partners, and academic experts, culminating in the signing of the Geneva Partnership Commitment. This commitment formally establishes a global network between the European Academy of Occupational Health Psychology (EAOHP), the Asia-Pacific Academy for Psychosocial Factors at Work (APA-PFAW), the Society for Occupational Health Psychology (SOHP), and the Scientific Committee of the International Commission on Occupational Health on Work Organization and Psychosocial Factors (ICOH-WOPS). The network is dedicated to advancing evidence-based policy and practice on psychosocial risks and mental health at work.
This study examined the effects of a personalized sleep or nutrition intervention on sleep in shift-workers. Fifty-seven healthy male workers on 12-hour shifts received the sleep intervention (n=25), nutrition intervention (n=22), or control (n=10). The sleep intervention aimed to improve sleep duration and quality through adjustments in sleep timing and sleep education. The nutrition intervention targeted circadian alignment by structuring meal timing and macronutrient distribution. Interventions were personalized using baseline sleep, diet, and physiological markers. Subjective sleep was assessed with the Insomnia Severity Index at baseline, last weeks of the intervention, and 8-month follow-up. Objective sleep outcomes (total sleep time, sleep efficiency, fragmentation index, and wake after sleep onset) were assessed through actigraphy at baseline, first and last weeks of the intervention. Mixed-effects models analyzed changes in subjective and objective sleep outcomes, adjusting for age, chronotype and household composition. The sleep intervention group had significantly higher insomnia scores at baseline, which improved to control levels post-intervention and remained so at follow-up. However, no significant changes in objective sleep were observed. The nutrition intervention group showed no significant effects on subjective or objective sleep outcomes. These findings suggest personalized sleep strategies may improve perceived sleep without detectable changes in objective measures.
Burnout has become a major occupational health concern in Japan, particularly under flexible work arrangements that may intensify self-regulatory demands. This study aimed to clarify the effects of self-endangering work behavior (SEWB) and other work-related psycho-behavioral factors on burnout among Japanese workers. An Internet-based cross-sectional survey was conducted with 800 participants (four groups of 200 each): two groups engaged in professional and planning work under a discretionary labor system, and two comparable groups of non-discretionary workers. The discretionary labor system in Japan allows employees greater autonomy over working hours while evaluating performance based on deemed working time rather than actual hours worked. Among professional workers, burnout (emotional impairment), SEWB, workaholism, and work engagement were significantly higher in discretionary compared with non-discretionary workers. Multiple regression analyses showed burnout was positively associated with SEWB and workaholism in both professional groups. Among planning workers, SEWB and work engagement were higher in discretionary workers, whereas burnout did not differ significantly. Burnout was positively associated with workaholism in both groups and with SEWB only in non-discretionary workers. These findings suggest differential risks of burnout depending on occupational type and labor system.
This study investigates the impact of face shape on the pass rate of personal protective equipment N95 mask fit tests among Taiwanese healthcare workers (HCWs) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Fit tests are crucial for controlling and preventing infection, but research indicates that face shape can affect the test's effectiveness. HCWs underwent a qualitative fit test and were categorized into round, square, long, and oval face shapes based on their profile pictures. A total of 352 HCWs participated the intervention, and 287 participants passed the test, among those participants, long shaped face had a passing rate of 80.2% and oval-shaped faces was 91.7%, while round-shaped faces had the lowest passing rate of 42.9%. This study reveals that long and oval shaped face participants in Taiwanese healthcare workers have a higher fitting rate than round-shaped participants, indicating better mask fit test pass rates.
