Burnout, Job strain and road accidents in the field of public transportation: The case of city bus drivers

Abstract

Sergio A. Useche, Francisco Alonso, Boris E. Cendales, Renata Autukeviciute, Andrea Serge

Introduction: The widely documented relationship between psychosocial work factors and occupational accidents has not been translated into intervention strategies in some high-risk occupational groups, such as public transport drivers. According to the recent scientific evidence, city bus drivers tend to present high levels of occupational stress, burnout, and accidents at work. Aim: The aim of this study was to characterize the job strain/burnout profile of professional bus drivers, and associate their stress/burnout profile with their road incidents (road accidents + fines) reported in the past 2 years. Materials and Methods: The study sample was formed by 222 Colombian male city bus drivers with an average of 41.36 years of age, a mean of driving experience of 18.63 years and, in average 6.82 years working in their current transport company. The study participants had a mean of 0.51 road accidents and 1.19 traffic fines in the past 2 years. It was designed a questionnaire composed by four sections: (a) Demographics, (b) job strain (Karasek’s job content questionnaire), (c) burnout (Maslach Burnout Inventory), and (d) self-reported health. Data collection process was conducted in 2014-2015 and analyzes along 2016. Results: A high proportion of city bus drivers report job strain (40.5%). The average scores of emotional exhaustion (X = 21.01) and cynicism (X = 17.88) were also high. Cluster analysis was used to characterize the job strain/burnout profile of professional bus drivers. Two job strain/burnout profiles significantly different were found (low job strain/burnout: n = 34.3% and high job strain/burnout: n = 65.7%). The bus drivers with high job strain/burnout profile reported significantly more accidents than those with low job strain/burnout profile (F(2.216) = 269.1, P = 0.00). Conclusions: This study confirms that the prevalence of occupational stress and burnout are significantly high among Colombian bus drivers. In addition, it was found that the bus drivers’ job strain/burnout profile is related to their performance behind the wheel. Therefore, the intervention on these factors represents a potentially successful strategy for the prevention of road accidents and risk behaviors that lead to penalties and fines.