Psychosocial work strains and well-being in the process of adapting to occupational stress: longitudinal studies of offshore rig workers.

BACKGROUND: The work on offshore rigs is related to a number of physical and mental burdens. The subject matter of the paper refers to the assessment of the relation between the mode of adapting to occupational stress and the feeling of well-being among the employees of offshore rigs in Poland. PARTICIPANTS AND PROCEDURE: The research procedure is a longitudinal study and encompasses analysis of data between 1993 and 2014. 167 employees of the Polish offshore rigs were studied: all of them were male and the average age was 42. Measuring tools were used to assess the subjective occupational stress, psychosocial work conditions, evaluation of physical and mental well-being and styles of coping with stress. RESULTS: The perceived level of stress directly affects mental well-being (r = .19, p = .048): the higher the level of stress, the worse is the mental well-being (ß = -.30). In a considerable part, the dependence between occupational stress and mental well-being may be clarified by the impact of the style of coping with occupational stress and the rate of stress dynamics (r = .32, p = .004). The higher the share of task-oriented coping style as compared to the emotion and avoidance-oriented style, the higher is the self-reported mental well-being. The higher the probability of affiliation with the group reporting a decrease in stress, the higher is the self-reported mental well-being. Perceiving stress has no direct or indirect impact on physical well-being (ß =. 09; ß = .08; ß = -.11). CONCLUSIONS: A dependence exists between the process of adapting to stress and the level of the self-reported mental well-being of the rig employees. The higher the probability of adaptation to the difficult situation at work in a way that the self-reported stress is reduced, the higher the self-reported mental well-being. Perceiving stress bears no direct or indirect impact on the physical well-being.

Stress at work on drilling rigs in Poland in a 20-year research perspective: time as a determinant of the stress-at-work dynamics.

OBJECTIVES: Adapting to stress over time is a process involving various cognitive and emotional assessments; it also depends on the objective situation related to working conditions, as well as on individual factors. The aim of this paper is to outline the dynamic nature of stress experienced by workers employed on oil rigs over a period of 20 years. The presented research is part of a larger project and concerns subjective stress. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Longitudinal studies included the analysis of data regarding the period of 1993-2014. They concerned 167 Polish oil rig workers, all men; the average age at the beginning of the study was 29 years. Each employee was surveyed at least 4 times over a period of 20 years at intervals of 4-6 years in the workplace. The subjective level of stress at work (based on the Subjective Job Evaluation Questionnaire) and the level of declared stress (based on the Stress Survey) were examined. RESULTS: Oil rig workers show different adaptations to stress over a long term, depending on their subjective perception of stress. Baseline stress levels can vary from person to person over the years. The first group was characterized by high initial stress, but the stress decreased systematically over 20 years ("stress resisting"). Employees from the second group were characterized by low initial stress, but declared a systematic increase in stress in the same period ("stress sensitizing"). Finally, employees from the third group adapted to stress in a flexible way, with subjective stress being most strongly associated with objective stress ("flexible group"). CONCLUSIONS: The presented prospective study showed differences between the subjective levels of stress depending on the distinguished groups over 20 years, i.e., between-group and intra-group variability. The method of prospective research shows that the perception of stress at work is a dynamic process and it changes over time. Int J Occup Med Environ Health. 2023;36(4):477-92.

Purpose in life and work-related stress in mariners. Mediating role of quality of marriage bonds and perceived anxiety.

BACKGROUND: The specific character of mariners' work is connected with many factors conducive to stress, overload, fatigue and emotional tension, all of which can negatively influence subjective quality of life, including particularly the sense of life's purpose and meaning. However, over the course of entire life one plays many various roles and takes part in many areas of life which influence one another, both positively and negatively. Undoubtedly one of such areas, essential from the point of fulfilling individual's important needs, is one's family and marriage that can function as a crucial factor for neutralising on-the-job problems and tensions. AIM: The research presented here attempts to verify the relation between stress perceived by mariners and their sense of purpose in life along with the mediating role of marriage quality and anxiety levels. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 210 mariners working on deep-sea ships were examined. The following research tools were applied in the study: the Purpose in Life Test (PIL), the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), the Perceived Stress Questionnaire (PSQ) and the Questionnaire of Suitable Marriage (KDM). RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: The results arrived at indicate that both marriage satisfaction and anxiety levels can indeed mediate the relation between stress and sense of purpose in life among mariners.

Dynamics of stress as a predictor of health consequences in Polish drilling platform workers. Longitudinal study: part I.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: The subject of presented article is the evaluation of the relationship between the way of adaptation to work-related stress and chosen health indicators among drilling platform workers in Poland. The study procedure is a longitudinal research, including data analysis from 1993 to 2013. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 167 Polish platform male workers with an average age of 42 years have been examined. The studies include, according to the triangulation method, data from 3 sources: data concerning the so-called 'objective' and 'subjective' stress, personality and temperamental examinations and data concerning health state. RESULTS: Stress affects health negatively, the higher subjective and objective stress, the worse health indicators: higher body mass index, more declared health ailments and worse evaluation of personal health (r = -0.23). Stress also affects health via 2 indirect tracts: through the kind of stress adaptation (stress dynamics) (r = -0.43) and through coping - depositional stress coping style (r = 0.41). CONCLUSIONS: Stress adaptation (stress dynamics) and coping style included in the study in longer perspective show that those drilling platform workers, who declare the decrease of stress over the years, present worse health indicators than those, who declare variability in the ways of adaptation to stress.

Personality and temperamental features vs. quality of life of Polish seafarers.

In Poland seafarers are a significantly large occupational group and their work is highly burdening and hazardous. The environmental, physical, chemical, biological and psychosocial factors have a great impact on their quality of work and life. This report examines their quality of life and the relationship between quality of life, personality and temperament was evaluated. A total of 300 Polish seafarers took part in this study. Their average age is 44. Incorporated methods used were: WHOQOL-BREF, a survey for people working at sea, questionnaires: NEO-FFI and PTS. The results have shown that their quality of life is quite high. Polish seafarers show neuroticism below average and high extraversion. They are open, agreeable and scrupulous. Their power of stimulation and inhibition processes is correct.

Polish system of education in maritime health care and medical assistance for seafarers.

The Polish public awareness of the crucial importance of the own maritime economy to the very existenceof the national state has its historical reasons. The Polish maritime involvement has seen several dramaticcrises, but the Polish nationals have become an established group in the global marine trade workforceand are entitled to the proper health care. In this paper the main maritime health issues are mentioned.To meet the issues, also the national education system provides the opportunities for both seafarers andmedical professionals. The Polish doctors can specialise in the maritime medicine. In many cases the generalmedicine students formations include these topics as well. The psychological aspects are also takeninto account, both of the education of the seafarers and the organisational structure of the Polish healthcare system. Some recent aspects of the Polish participation in the international cooperation in the fieldof the medical support of the maritime economy are also described.

Stress and the level of perceived anxiety among mariners: the mediating role of marital satisfaction.

The challenges of professional life are becoming more and more demanding on people's private life, especially if a given profession requires many sacrifices and has negative consequences for one's physical and psychological health, as is the case of professional mariners. The purpose of this study is to attempt to verify the correlation between the quality of emotional bonds, manifested in marital satisfaction, and the level of stress and anxiety perceived by mariners. The study encompasses 210 mariners working on seagoing ships. The following research tools were employed for the purpose of the study: State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), Stress Experience Questionnaire (PS) and Well-matched Marriage Questionnaire (KDM). The results indicate that marital satisfaction is correlated with the level of stress and anxiety among mariners, constituting a stress inhibitor.

Occupational hazards for fishermen in the workplace in Polish coastal and beach fishing--a point of view.

The work of marine fishermen is considered one of the most dangerous and life-threatening professions all over the world. There are some common features of the fishing occupation, such as: exposure to cold, wind, rough seas, substantial participation of physical effort, frequency of injuries during work, unpredictability and abruptness of threats, equipment failure, everyday psychological stress, and constant economic pressure. At the same time, the specificity and variety of hazards, depending significantly on geographical-climate and cultural factors, makes the dissimilarity of problems and solutions substantial in different sectors of fishing. The present article is a review of the problems of Polish costal fishermen, referring to some local particularities within this extremely difficult profession requiring special predispositions.

Assessment of the European Guide for Risk Prevention in Small Fishing Vessels. Guide applicability in Polish coastal fishing.

The European Commission--The Directorate General of Employment, Social Affairs, and Equal Opportunities is going to publish the European Guide for Risk Prevention in Small Fishing Vessels. The legislative basis was the Report COM (2009) 599 on the practical implementation of Health and Safety at Work Directives 93/103/EC (fishing vessels) and 92/29/EEC (medical treatment on board vessels), which recommended the drawing up of a non-binding guide for vessels under 15 m in length. The Guide draft was produced directly by Labour Asociados, SSL, Spain. The organization has asked IIMTM in Gdynia, Poland, to participate in the project of evaluating the draft of the Guide. The testing took place simultaneously and homogenously in other chosen European countries. The results of the assessment are presented below. They indicate some differences and specific challenges faced by fishermen working in small costal boats in the Baltic area. The Guide should take these under consideration.

Psychosocial burden among offshore drilling platform employees.

Conditions of work on offshore drilling platforms are particularly hard due to extreme environmental situations created both by nature and technological processes. Oil drilling workers employed on the open sea are potentially exposed to permanently high stress. Apart from the obvious objective factors affecting drilling platform employees, a great role in the general work-related stress level is played by the working conditions and work-related psychosocial factors, defined according to Karask's concept as demands, control, and social support. A total of 184 drill platform workers were examined using objective and subjective research methods. The level of subjective stress among drilling platform workers is lower than the level of objective stress and the stress resulting from prognoses related with specificity of work in extremely hard conditions (audit). The examinations of drilling platform workers reveal a positive role of stress in psychological adaptation, being a special case of the "work ethos" and attachment to the firm. In such investigations of work-related stress on drilling platforms, which are very specific workplaces, a multi-aspect character, sociological and economic aspects, organizational culture conditions in the firm, and a tendency to conceal ailments and the stress experienced should be taken into account. It is important to apply measures referring to at least three different types of evidence (objective demands, subjective stress, health problems reported). Otherwise, the result reflecting work-related stress may not be objective and far from the truth.

Promotion of healthy nutrition of seafarers.

Nutrition disorders arise from various interacting factors: cultural, environmental, genetic, physiological, and psychological. Excessive consumption of highly processed food, sugar, salt, alcohol, and saturated fats is a problem nowadays, and consumption of fish, vegetables, and fruit is insufficient. Overeating and an unbalanced diet are often accompanied by stress and a lack of physical activity. This is intensified by easy access to "comfort food", "fast food", and "junk food". The number of people suffering from overweight and obesity, so-called diseases of civilization, is increasing. Not only is being overweight a risk factor for the development many other metabolic diseases, but it also significantly worsens the quality of life. This also concerns people working at sea. Obesity is favoured by emotional eating disorders (EED), uncontrolled/compulsive eating - binge eating disorders (BED), and night eating disorders (NED). Most frequently, eating is a reaction to stress or boredom. It alleviates tension and improves the mood, also of seafarers.

Work-related stress at sea. Possibilities of research and measures of stress.

The present concept of stress is related with the necessity of triangulation in research. Triangulation means collecting evidence of stress from at least three sources: (a) precursors--perception and feeling (moderating factors), (b) direct consequences, (c) state of health. Is it possible to implement triangulation in the investigations of work-related stress at sea? In the present paper, possibilities of collecting data on the work at sea are analyzed as regards individual aspects--stages of triangulation. The employment of triangulation principles to examine stress in persons working at sea requires both time and application of certain corrections to methodology of examinations carried out in Poland. When examining seafarers, we deal mainly with subjective information on perception of work and individual feeling of work-related stress. A proposition to expand the nethodological workshop of examining stress at sea according to triangulation principles has been presented.

Health promotion in the maritime work environment--training of leaders.

The essence of the project of pro-health attitudes promotion is the assumption that they contribute to a successful occupational career and reduce health and life hazards in the maritime work environment. The method chosen was to train students of the Maritime Academy in Gdynia, the future officers and potential health leaders among maritime employees.

Strategies towards health protection in maritime work environment involving the role of health promotion--invitation to join in discussion.

The aim of the paper is to present problems, limitations and advantages of strategies adopted for health protection at sea, with particular regard to health promotion. The invitation is extended to IMH readers to join in discussion and to present suggestions how to improve the present practice of health services for seafarers.

Work-related stress at sea self estimation by maritime students and officers.

People working at sea experience stress connected with their specific work conditions, high job responsibility and psychosocial factors, which generate health and psychological problems. The self-evaluation of mental strain related to the work at sea was arranged for Maritime Academy students and for merchant marine officers. Two study groups were examined: 30 students of the Mechanical Faculty of the Maritime Academy (MA) in Gdynia, of the mean age 22.7 years, and 30 seamen, i.e. deck officers and ship's engineers, of the mean age 47.2 years, with a minimum 15-year period of service at sea. For the assessment of work-related stress level, the "Work-Related Stress--Subjective Work Evaluation Questionnaire" was used. Comparing to the officers with a long period of service at sea, the students were more vulnerable to stress at work, and this was attributed to: social relations, physical onerousness, the lack of control, and the lack of support. The programme of psychological training, aimed at supporting the personal competence, was proposed as a preventive intervention.

A survey on the influence of personality on successful career development of the Maritime Academy students.

The present research focused on the exploration of those psychological functions that might be helpful in predicting successful career development as prospective seafarers among students of the Maritime Academy (MA) in Gdynia. The study group comprised of 334 MA students. The survey explored intellectual and cognitive ability, selected personality and temperamental traits, social behaviour style, ability to cope with difficult situations and immunity to stress.