Psychosocial factors associated with fatigue in mining work

Fatigue is related to lifestyle habits and working conditions. In the corporate environment, the organization and type of work, as well as social support, can cause or aggravate fatigue and its dimensions (sleepiness and indisposition to work, difficulty concentrating and paying attention, and physical discomfort).

To assess the prevalence of fatigue and its association with biosocial characteristics, job demands, and the risk of fatigue in heavy vehicle drivers in the mining sector.

A cross-sectional study with 111 workers used the biosocial and organizational questionnaire, the Job Stress Scale for psychosocial assessment, and the Yoshitake Fatigue Assessment Questionnaire as instruments.

Fatigue was associated with marital status, education, lifestyle habits, and psychosocial factors at work. Most fatigued workers were exposed to passive work with low social support.

Driving heavy vehicles did not increase the risk of fatigue; however, high work demands and low social support were the psychosocial factors most related to the dimensions of fatigue.