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Precarious schedules linked with workplace aggression in a high‐risk occupation
Author(s) -
Hurtado David A.,
Dumet Lisset M.,
Greenspan Samuel A.,
Marino Miguel,
Bernard Kimberly
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
american journal of industrial medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.7
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1097-0274
pISSN - 0271-3586
DOI - 10.1002/ajim.22794
Subject(s) - aggression , medicine , poisson regression , occupational safety and health , work schedule , human factors and ergonomics , schedule , injury prevention , poison control , suicide prevention , demography , environmental health , work (physics) , psychiatry , population , mechanical engineering , pathology , sociology , computer science , engineering , operating system
Introduction Night work and prolonged work hours increase the risk for workplace aggression, however, the risk related to precarious schedules remains unknown. Methods Cross‐sectional study among Parole Probation Officers (PPOs) ( n = 35). A precarious schedules index was created including the following indicators (a) experiencing one or more unexpected shifts during the last 4 weeks; (b) having minimal control over work hours; and (c) shifts notifications of less than a week. Generalized Poisson Regressions estimated the association between precarious schedules and self‐reported client‐based aggressive incidents (verbal, threating, property, or physical) during the last 12 months. Results Workplace aggression was highly prevalent (94.3%). PPOs who experienced precarious schedules (74.3% prevalence) had an adjusted rate of workplace aggression 1.55 times greater than PPOs without precarious schedules ( IRR = 1.55, 95% CI 1.25, 1.97, P < 0.001). Conclusions Precarious schedules were associated with workplace aggression. Further research ought to examine whether improving schedule predictability may reduce client‐based aggression.