Psychosocial and environmental factors: influence on work ability among social assistance workers

Poor working conditions might impair the health and work ability (WA) of public service workers.

To investigate the association of work ability with environmental and psychosocial factors among workers at Social Assistance Reference Centers in Uberaba, Minas Gerais, Brazil.

We administered three questionnaires: one to collect sociodemographic data, one for workplace evaluation and the Work Ability Index (WAI). The data were subjected to descriptive analysis and the Mann-Whitney U test.

The sample comprised 41 participants, with average age 40 years old (SD=14.83) most of whom had attended higher education (82.9%). The participants reported poor workplace ventilation (75.6%), temperature (78%) and equipment (75.6%). Most participants reported to spend long time sitting (65.9%) and absence of breaks (51.2%). Threats to personal safety (31.7%), personal belongings (53.7%) and aggression by service users (26.8%), escorts or relatives (19.5%) were the psychosocial factors most frequently reported. The average score on WAI was 37.85; 41.5% of participants were rated as with poor or moderate WA. WA was associated with workplace temperature (p=0.015), available material resources (p=0.011), threats to personal safety (p=0.005) and violence between coworkers (p=0.016) or between service users and workers and/or supervisors (p=0.035).

The results corroborate the existence of a relationship between working conditions and WA and evidenced association between WA and workplace violence.