Mediating Role of Burnout Level in the Relationship between Occupational Stress and Aberrant Driver Behaviors among Professional Drivers

Abstract

Work stress is defined as a reaction, due to mismatch between the requirements of the job and the qualifications of employees, that challenge coping abilities of employees. Burnout is one of the negative consequences that may emerge as a result of prolonged exposure to work stress. Occupational stress and burnout may lead to several negative individual and organizational outcomes among professional drivers, in addition to having the potential to influence driver behaviors. The purpose of the current study is to investigate the relationship between occupational stress, burnout, aberrant driver behaviors and accidents among professional drivers. For this purpose, data were collected from 120 male professional drivers. The participants were asked to answer demographic and stress questions, fill out Bergen Burnout Inventory-15 and Driver Behavior Questionnaire. Findings suggest that total burnout scores have an indirect effect on the relationship between occupational stress and aberrant driver behaviors. Furthermore, when those professional drivers who were involved in at least 1 accident and those who were not involved in any accidents are compared, it was found that drivers who were involved in accidents had lower exhaustive fatigue scores; higher frequencies of ordinary violations, errors, and lapses, as compared to those who were not. When considered from road safety framework, findings show that negative consequences of stress may extend beyond the individual and influence other road users as well. For this reason, we suggest that occupational stressors of professional drivers are defined and periodic meetings as well as health check-ups are done.

Keywords

• occupational stress,burnout,aberrant driver behaviors,professional drivers

Profesyonel Sürücülerde Mesleki Stres ve Sapkın Sürücü Davranışları İlişkisinde Tükenmişlik Seviyesinin Aracı Rolü

Abstract

İş kaynaklı stres, işin gerektirdikleriyle çalışanların sahip oldukları özellikler arasındaki uyumsuzluğa verilen, çalışanların başa çıkma becerilerini zorlayan bir tepki olarak tanımlanmaktadır. Tükenmişlik ise iş kaynaklı strese uzun süre maruz kalma sonucunda oluşabilecek olumsuzluklardan biridir. Mesleki stres ve tükenmişlik profesyonel sürücülerde birtakım olumsuz bireysel ve kurumsal sonuçlara yol açabileceği gibi, sürücü davranışlarını da etkileme potansiyeline sahiptir. Mevcut çalışmanın amacı, profesyonel sürücüler arasında mesleki stres, tükenmişlik, sapkın sürücü davranışları ve trafik kazaları arasındaki ilişkiyi araştırmaktır. Bu amaç doğrultusunda 120 erkek profesyonel sürücüden veri toplanmıştır. Katılımcılardan demografik soruları ve mesleki stres sorusunu cevaplamaları, Bergen Tükenmişlik Göstergesi-15’i (BTG-15) ve Sürücü Davranışları Anketi’ni (SDA) doldurmaları istenmiştir. Bulgular göstermektedir ki, toplam tükenmişlik seviyesi mesleki stres ile sapkın sürücü davranışları arasındaki ilişkide dolaylı etkiye sahiptir. Ayrıca, son 5 yılda en az 1 kazaya karışan ve hiç kazaya karışmayan profesyonel sürücüler karşılaştırıldığında, kazaya karışan sürücülerin karışmayanlara kıyasla yorgunluk seviyelerinin daha düşük olduğu; sıradan ihlal, ihmal ve hata sıklıklarının ise daha fazla olduğu bulunmuştur. Yol güvenliği bakımından ele alındığında mevcut çalışmanın sonuçları, stresin etkisinin bireyin ötesinde diğer yol kullanıcılarını da tehdit edebileceğini göstermektedir. Bu nedenle, profesyonel sürücülerin mesleki stres etmenlerinin belirlenmesi ve periyodik toplantılar ile kapsamlı sağlık kontrollerinin yapılması önerilmektedir.

Keywords

• mesleki stres,tükenmişlik,sapkın sürücü davranışları,profesyonel sürücüler

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