United States Department of Transportation
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The Health and Safety Effects of Accidents on Intermodal Transportation Workers : A Study of Psychological Health Concerns and Depression of Operating Employees Involved in Critical Incidents
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2010-05-05
[PDF-419.30 KB]
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Alternative Title:Study of Psychological Health Concerns and Depression of Operating Employees Involved in Critical Incidents
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OCLC Number:727951239
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Abstract:Surveys of 1420 intermodal transportation workers operating railroad equipment including mechanical and train yard and engine crafts from seven different locations throughout the western and eastern United States with various measures designed to assess their attitudes towards work and their general psychological mood were conducted over a three year period. An average response rate of 81.3% was obtained from the surveys. For persons were asked if they had been involved in a “traumatic event at work” or “near miss” or if there was “another person inured as a result of a work related incident” then a significant correlation was obtained (r =. 204, p <.002, N=238), (r = .205, p < .001, N=275) and (r = .159 , p <.009, N=271) respectively. Number of fatalities, proximity of persons killed, or working as a train operator were also significant. Results indicate that railroad workers in general reported levels of depression higher than would be expected in the general population. In the present study 11.9% of respondents reported moderate or greater levels of depression as measured by the Beck Depression Inventory which is larger than the 7.06% 12-month prevalence rate reported by Compton (2006) and 6.7% rate reported for the prevalence of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) obtained by Kessler et. al. (2005) in the NCS Replication study of depression in the general population. Point prevalence, or current prevalence, has been estimated to be 5% to 9% for women and 2% to 3% for men. Using the BDI cutoff score of (18) recommended by Steer Brown, Beck and Sanderson (2001) as a conservative indicator, the present sample was found to have 16.7% of respondents meeting the criteria suggestive of major depressive episode. Thus, this rate is 2.49 times higher than what was found by Kessler in the NCS-R. A very small percentage of respondents (less than 1%) reported self-injurious thoughts. The predominantly male sample (97.3%) as a whole had an average age of 43.5 and a mode of 52. However, depression was significantly correlated with younger ages. Depression was also associated with involvement in critical incidents at work and being injured or observing others being injured at work. In addition, significant correlations between depression and decreased concentration, tiredness, sleepiness and lower perceived levels of working safely were also obtained. Limitations of the study include use of self-report measures with an occupationally functioning sample, small sample size, and lack of structured interview corroboration of presence of depressive symptomology. Implications of the results are the possibility that depression may be under diagnosed in male populations and may also have a negative impact on safety and work performance. Recommendations discussed include the need for the development of better screening procedures, increased employee and organizational awareness of signs, need for the development of training programs for supervisory personnel for the identification of signs, symptoms and risks associated with depression in the workplace.
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