Investigation of Psychosocial Hazards and Risks of Occupational Physicians Working in Enterprises: A Qualitative Research

Abstract

Purpose – Psychosocial hazard and risks are of importance for work psychology. Psychosocial hazard is the potential to create psychological, social or physical damage due to the the nature of the work and the physical factors in the workplace environment. Due to conflict of the work’s requirements with the employee's knowledge, skills and needs and the lack of social support concerning the work, the work itself and the psychosocial hazards caused by the work may lead to stress and it is known that they cause serious risks for the employees’ health and safety. The purpose of this study is to assess the psychosocial hazards and risks that occupational physicians expose to considering occupational health and safety. Design/Methodology/Approach – A qualitative research method has been used and interview technique with semi-structured questions has been decided on in the study. In this technique, the interview protocol, in which questions are mentioned before, is addressed to the interviewers and the data is collected by recording the answers. In interviews with semi-structured questions, the researcher can lead the flow of the interview with extra or sub-questions in accordance with the flow of the interview and can help the interviewers to detail their answers. Findings – In this study all of the occupational physicians working in Giresun province was figured out and they were asked 10 semi-structured interview questions and the answers were recorded. Through these questions, the psychosocial hazards and risks that occupational physicians expose to were tried to be determined. Discussion – To sum up, it was determined that preventing psychosocial hazards and risks in workplaces may not only eliminate unproductive work, but also may increase individual and social life quality as well. Safety culture is one of the most effective instruments in order to create a healthy and safe working atmosphere and increase the motivation of an individual to the work.