Employees of shopping malls face various physiological and psychological health problems due to their specific working conditions. The purpose of this descriptive study was to evaluate the ergonomic risk factors for employees (N=222) from three shopping centres in the city of Erzurum, Turkey. We wanted to learn more about the attitudes of the shopping mall employees regarding their current working conditions, which we hoped would help us propose measures for the elimination or reduction of the most prominent ergonomic risk factors. Data were collected between May 1 and July 1, 2022 using our own questionnaire, which consisted of questions regarding personal characteristics (gender, age, education level, marital status, working year, unit, working position, nature of the job, presence of chronic disease, etc.) and the Workplace Ergonomics Scale, which consists of 32 items divided into 6 sub-dimensions (Occupational Health and Safety, Environmental Conditions, Psychological Elements, Employee Safety, Workplace Social Environment, and Working Environment). The obtained results indicated that the majority of employees were young, healthy, high school graduates mainly working as sales consultants. Their average income was low, their working hours were long, and they found their rest periods shorter than needed. The study found that, although shopping centre employees rated their work environment as low risk in terms of ergonomics, their scores on the workplace ergonomics scale were above average. The results of this study could contribute to a better understanding and identification of ergonomic risks in the trade sector and serve for planning future prevention strategies.
Zaposlenici trgovačkih centara suočeni su s raznim fiziološkim i psihološkim poteškoćama zbog specifičnih uvjeta njihova posla. Svrha ovoga istraživanja bila je procijeniti ergonomske faktore rizika za zaposlenike (N=222) triju trgovačkih centara u gradu Erzurum, Turska. Namjera nam je bila prikupiti podatke o stavovima zaposlenika spram njihovih trenutačnih uvjeta na radu, koji bi mogli poslužiti za osmišljavanje mjera otklanjanja ili umanjenja najistaknutijih ergonomskih faktora rizika. Podaci su prikupljani u razdoblju od 1. svibnja do 1. srpnja 2022. koristeći samostalno kreirani upitnik, koji je sadržavao pitanja vezana uz osobne značajke (spol, dob, razina obrazovanja, bračni status, godina zaposlenja, jedinica, radno mjesto, priroda posla, kronične bolesti, itd.) i ljestvicu ergonomije na radnom mjestu, koja se sastoji od 32 stavke podijeljene u šest poddimenzija (zdravlje i sigurnost na radu, okolišni uvjeti, psihološki čimbenici, sigurnost zaposlenika, društveno okruženje na radnom mjestu i radno okruženje). Rezultati pokazuju da je većina zaposlenika bila mlađe dobi, odličnog zdravstvenog stanja, imala srednjoškolsku razinu obrazovanja i radila kao prodavači. Njihov je prosječni prihod bio nizak, radno vrijeme dugo, a vrijeme dozvoljeno za odmor smatrali su prekratkim. Naše istraživanje je pokazalo da, iako su ispitanici ocijenili svoje radno okruženje niskorizičnim u smislu ergonomije, njihovi rezultati na ljestvici bili su natprosječno visoki. Rezultati ovoga istraživanja mogli bi pridonijeti boljem razumijevanja i definiranju ergonomskih rizika u sektoru trgovine i poslužiti za planiranje boljih strategija za njihovu prevenciju.
Keywords: društveno okruženje na radnom mjestu; ljestvica ergonomije na radnom mjestu; psihološki rizici; psychological risks; safety; sigurnost; workplace ergonomics scale; workplace social environment.
© 2023 Abdullah Köse et al., published by Sciendo.