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Working Time Exposures and Occupational Injury Among Delivery Gig Workers in China: Indirect Pathways Through Sleep
1School of Social Work, Columbia University, New York, USA.
Background:
Delivery gig workers face elevated risks of occupational injury, yet little is known about how working time exposures contribute to injury risk and the pathways underlying this association. This study examined the associations between multiple dimensions of working time exposures and occupational injury and whether sleep quality represented an indirect pathway co-occurring with these associations.
Methods:
Using cross-sectional survey data from 1,537 delivery gig workers in Shanghai, China, we examined the associations between three dimensions of working time exposures (daily working hours, weekly working days, and night-shift frequency) and occupational injury. Sleep quality was examined as a potential indirect pathway based on the Effort-Recovery Model. We estimated a series of regression models and used bootstrap methods to decompose direct and indirect associations while adjusting for sociodemographic and job-related covariates.
Results:
Longer daily working hours and more frequent night shifts were directly associated with higher occupational injury counts. Weekly working days and night-shift frequency showed significant indirect associations with occupational injury through poorer sleep quality. Robustness checks using a binary injury indicator yielded consistent results.
Conclusion:
Working time exposures are associated with occupational injury risk among delivery gig workers through both direct exposure-related associations and indirect pathways involving sleep quality. Interventions and policies targeting excessive working hours, night work, and sleep quality may help reduce injury risks in this vulnerable transport workforce.