Impacts of poor working conditions, occupational psychology, and enterprise risk factors on occupational injury by path analysis

Background Occupational injuries, which can result in absenteeism, disability, or death, are closely related to poor working conditions. However, the improvement of operating conditions are often time-consuming and require significant economic inputs. Both occupational psychology and enterprise risk factors have been proved to be related to the occurrence of occupational injuries, but their roles in the influence path of adverse working conditions leading to occupational injuries remain unclear.

Objective To explore the roles of occupational psychology and enterprise risk factors in the impact of adverse working conditions on occupational injury, so as to provide a scientific basis for enterprises with adverse working conditions to carry out targeted occupational injury intervention programs.

Methods The survey data of 5997 manufacturing enterprises were obtained from the European Survey of Enterprises on New and Emerging Risks (ESENER) database. The data on enterprise risk characteristics, occupational injuries, working conditions, and occupational psychological factors were extracted and assigned. Occupational injury differences by enterprise categories were examined by chi-square test. Correlations between interest variables were evaluated by Spearman test. Path analysis with Bootstrap method was conducted using AMOS 26 software, and ratio of chi-square statistic to degree of freedom (χ²/ν), comparative fit index (CFI), Tucker-Lewis index (TLI), and root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) were used to evaluate the path model candidates. The effect size and its proportion were calculated for variables (occupational psychological factors, enterprise risk factors, and adverse working conditions) included in the final model.

Results The M (P₂₅, P₇₅) scores of occupational injuries, adverse working conditions, and occupational psychological factors were 40 (20, 50), 50 (30, 60), and 20 (10, 30), respectively. The enterprises that reported occupational injuries accounted for 25.5% (1550 enterprises) of the total enterprises. Proportions of the enterprises that reported occupational injuries varied significantly by company scale, branch companies, temporary employment, language barriers, and establishment time (P<0.05). The results of Spearman test showed that occupational injuries were positively correlated with working conditions (r_s=0.440), occupational psychological factors (r_s=0.205), company scale (r_s=0.307), temporary employment (r_s=0.282), and language barriers (r_s=0.158); but negatively correlated with branch companies (r_s=−0.180) and establishment time (r_s=−0.176) (P<0.05). In the path analysis, the fitness indexes of the final model were χ²/ν=2.85, CFI=0.997, TLI=0.993, and RMSEA=0.018 (90%CI: 0.011, 0.025). The indirect effect size values and constituent ratios of enterprise risk factors and occupational psychological factors in the effect of adverse working conditions on occupational injuries were 0.166 (30.01%) and 0.013 (3.13%) respectively. The indirect effect size value of occupational psychological factors in the effect of enterprise risk factors on occupational injuries and its constituent ratio were 0.022 and 6.85%.

Conclusion Enterprises with adverse working conditions may control the risk of occupational injuries by offering better solutions to surmount language barriers and temporary employment, developing occupational psychological intervention and optimization programs such as improving working hours system. At the same time, large enterprises, enterprises without branches, or enterprises with a long history are the focus of occupational injury prevention and control.