Correlates of burnout among public service lawyers

Several hypotheses suggested by the theoretical literature on burnout were empirically tested in an attempt to identify the organizational conditions associated with employee burnout. Public service lawyers in the U.S. (N= 391) completed a survey designed to assess (a) three components of burnout, namely, emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and feelings of low personal accomplishment; (b) perceptions of several job conditions predicted to be associated these three components of burnout, including workload, role conflict, social support, decision-making policies, and autonomy; and (c) organizational commitment. Results indicate that emotional exhaustion is most strongly associated with role conflict and quantitative workload. Feelings of personal accomplishment were associated with supervisory social support and job level. Depersonalization was associated with role conflict and decision-making policies. Finally, each burnout component is significantly related to organizational commitment.     

Patterns of burnout among managers and professionals: a comparison of models

Using structural equation modeling, this paper compares the intertemporal sequences of the burnout components proposed by Maslach (1982) and Golembiewski (1989) using responses from 354 human resource professionals. The relationship between the burnout components and several critical variables that are theoretically linked to the phenomenon are also investigated. Studying human resource professionals allows us to examine the generalizability of burnout. This group of employees provides a range of services to a largely internal client group, and thus experience strain from interpersonal interactions. Results support Maslach's three-factor sequential model of burnout, although its superiority over the Golembiewski sequential model is not definitive. A post hoc analysis reveals a significant path between emotional exhaustion and personal accomplishment, and an insignificant path between depersonalization and personal accomplishment. Investigation of the relationship between the burnout components and several critical, theoretically linked variables indicates significant paths between (a) role overload and emotional exhaustion, (b) noncontingent punishment and depersonalization, and (c) contingent rewards and personal accomplishment. The work documents the generalizability of burnout to managers and professionals in corporate settings. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Ventilation theory and dispersion modelling applied to hazardous area classification

Critical formulae given in the current Explosive Atmospheres Hazardous Area Classification Standard IEC 60079-10-1 (2008) [BS EN 60079-10-1, 2009] to determine the expected gas cloud volume which is used to determine area classification do not have any scientific justification. The standard does allow the alternative use of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) methods, which serve to compound the concern with these formulae: the predicted volume of the gas cloud from CFD models being several orders of magnitude smaller than that given by the formulae in question. To resolve such major discrepancies, replacement of the current formulae with a scientifically validated approach is proposed. Integral models of dispersion and ventilation have been used routinely for many years in the analysis of major hazards in the chemical industry. This paper presents an adaptation of these models to determine the expected volume of a gas cloud arising from a release of gas from a pressurised source. A very simple integral jet model is presented for outdoor dispersion, extended to the case of indoor dispersion, from which the volume of the gas cloud is derived. The single free parameter, an entrainment coefficient, is fixed by comparison with data on a free jet, and then predictions of the model are compared with CFD calculations (which themselves have been validated against experimental data) for dispersion within an enclosed volume. The results of this simple integral model are seen to agree very well with the CFD predictions. The methodology presented here is therefore proposed as a scientifically validated approach to Hazardous Area Classification.     

职业安全健康工作的核心是对人力资源的保护

随着经济和社会的发展,职业安全健康工作越来越受到党和国家领导人的重视。切实做好职业安全健康研究与管理工作是落实科学发展观的基本标志之一,而职业安全健康工作的核心是对人力资源的保护。因此我们要充分认识到加强职业安全健康工作的重要性、必要性和紧迫性,让广大劳动者实现"体面劳动"。一要加强职业安全健康监管,二要借鉴经验完善体制,三要加大相关职业安全健康科学技术研究。只有全面提升人力资源保护,贯彻落实"科技兴安"战略,加强人力资源管理,才能确保劳动者在劳动生产过程中的安全与健康。     

The contribution of burnout to work performance

While the notion that ‘burnout’ is related to a decline in work performance is widely recognized, empirical support for this relationship is lacking. The present study, composed of human services personnel, is the first to empirically test the relationships among Maslach's three dimensions of burnout and work performance. A negative relationship was established between one dimension of burnout, emotional exhaustion, and subsequent work performance. However, the results failed to establish relationships among work performance, depersonalization and diminished personal accomplishment. These results provide further support for emotional exhaustion as a key component of the burnout experience. Future directions and implications of these findings are introduced. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Coping patterns as predictors of burnout: The function of control and escapist coping patterns

The paper attempts to bring concepts developed in cognitive approaches to stress and coping to a model which predicts burnout as a function of organizational demands and resources. Workers in a mental hospital (N = 177) provided information regarding coping patterns, burnout, and organizational commitment as well as various demands and resources in the work environment. A LISREL analysis confirmed that burnout is best considered a function of coping patterns as well as a function of organizational demands and resources. Control coping cognitions and actions were associated with decreased burnout, while escapist coping strategies were associated with increased burnout. The analysis indicated relationships of coping patterns with organizational commitment could be operating indirectly through the relationships of both coping patterns and commitment with the burnout. The paper discusses implications of these findings for interventions designed to alleviate or prevent burnout.     

Work-home conflict among nurses and engineers: Mediating the impact of role stress on burnout and satisfaction at work

Using structural equation modeling, this paper compares a more traditional, unmediated model of work-based role stress and its consequences on job satisfaction and burnout to two models in which the role stress-affective work outcome relationship is mediated (partially and completely) by work-home conflict across two samples of public sector professionals: engineers and nurses. The findings indicate that a model in which role conflict and overload have both direct and indirect effects—via work-home conflict—on job burnout and satisfaction (‘Partial Mediation’ model) achieves a better overall ‘fit’ than two alternative models. Furthermore, the findings suggest that while the two groups perceive many aspects of the work-home relationship differently, for both groups, work-based role conflict is an important antecedent of work-home conflict, and increased burnout an important direct consequence of work-home conflict. Finally, on the basis of the findings, the authors conclude that perspectives which view the work and non-work realms as independent must be reconsidered, and that the nature of the work-home relationship may, to a great extent, be contingent upon the way different occupational groups perceive their work situations.     

Long-term consequences of burnout: An exploratory study

The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between degree of burnout experienced during the first year of the career and career adaptation during the next decade. Subjects were 25 human service professionals originally working in the fields of public service law, public health nursing, high school teaching, or mental health. They were studied during the first year of their careers and again 12 years later. Early career burnout was assessed via ratings of interviews that were highly correlated with the Maslach Burnout Inventory. Career adaptation variables included career stability, work satisfaction, attitudes towards recipients, and flexibility as measured at the time of follow-up. Each of these variables was measured via interview ratings, a questionnaire, and ratings made hy confidants of the subjects. Results showed that subjects who were more burned-out early in their careers were less likely to change careers and more flexible in their approach to work as rated by confidants at the time of follow-up. The results suggest that early career burnout does not seem to lead to any significant, negative, long-term consequences. However, burnout occurring later in the career might have more serious long-term effects.     

基于DBR理论的突发事件中应急资源动态调度方法研究

突发事件中应急资源动态调度最突出的特征表现在处于动态性、不确定性、时效性和复杂性的环境中,这使资源优化调度受到多种因素的影响,很难得到最优解.在分析应急资源系统特征的基础上,将该类问题描述为存在瓶颈环节的动态FJSP问题,提出了基于DBR理论的方法进行优化调度.首先建立反映应急资源特征的数学模型;接着运用DBR理论对应急资源系统进行简化,分解为瓶颈和非瓶颈资源,并利用混合重调度策略和启发式算法对问题求解;然后设置缓冲区域,协调瓶颈与非瓶颈资源的调度,使任务的完成时间损失最小化,从而实现应急资源的动态调度.最后通过实例仿真结果证明了该算法的可行性和有效性.     

Multiple interactions of hazard exposures, role stressors and situational factors, and burnout among nurses.

This was a cross-sectional study which looked into the interaction between situational factors, role stressors, hazard exposure and personal factors among 135 nurses in the Philippine General Hospital. More than half (58.5%) of the respondents reported being ill due to work in the past year, and 59.3% missed work because of an illness. Regression showed factors associated with burnout were organizational role stress, hazard exposure, self-efficacy, age, number of working years, illness in the past 12 months, migraine, dizziness, sleep disorder, cough and colds, and diarrhea. After multiple regression analysis, organizational role stress (p = .000), migraine (p = .001), age (p = .018) and illness in the past 12 months (p = .000) were found to be significant predictors of burnout. The contribution of the study is in advancing new concepts in the already existing framework of burnout, and thus, assisting nurses and hospital administration in on controlling this problem.     

A further examination of managerial burnout: Toward an integrated model

A model of managerial burnout was examined among 148 human service supervisors and managers. The findings suggest that emotional exhaustion plays a central mediating role in the burnout process. Social support and direct control were associated with exhaustion through role stress. Job and life satisfaction, and time spent with clients and subordinates were also related to exhaustion. In turn, exhaustion was related to depersonalization, professional commitment, and turnover intentions. An expected reciprocal relation between exhaustion and helplessness was not found, as the former had only a weak impact on the latter. Implications for stress coping are discussed.     

The role of burnout syndrome as a mediator for the effect of psychosocial risk factors on the intensity of musculoskeletal disorders: a structural equation modeling approach

This study examined the hypothesis that burnout syndrome mediates effects of psychosocial risk factors and intensity of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) among hospital nurses. The sample was composed of 415 nurses from various wards across five hospitals of Iran's Hamedan University of Medical Sciences. Data were collected through three questionnaires: job content questionnaire, Maslach burnout inventory and visual analogue scale. Results of structural equation modeling with a mediating effect showed that psychosocial risk factors were significantly related to changes in burnout, which in turn affects intensity of MSDs.     

Coordinability and consistency: Application of systems theory to accident causation and prevention

Recent works in the safety literature report several fruitful attempts to introduce mathematically rigorous results from systems and control theory to bear upon accident prevention and system safety. Previously, we discussed the implications on safety of the systems theoretic principles of coordinability and consistency, and we identified the lack of coordinability and/or consistency as fundamental failure modes in hierarchical multilevel systems. In this work, we further develop system safety analysis techniques based on these principles. We demonstrate that these principles not only provide a domain-independent vocabulary for expressing the results of post-mortem accident analyses, but they can also be applied to guide design and operational choices for accident prevention and system safety. We develop these ideas with the help of an illustrative case study. This case study represents a broad class of systems where operational policies and procedures of individual stakeholders in the system interact with physical processes such that new system behaviors emerge, and unanticipated safety issues arise. We argue, and illustrate our arguments using this case study, that the coordinability and consistency principles can be developed to deliver a threefold impact on accident analysis and prevention: firstly, these principles provide domain-independent procedural templates and vocabulary for post-mortem accident analysis. Secondly, these principles provide theoretical safety specifications to be met during system design and operation. Finally, these safety specifications can precipitate the formulation of a series of questions directly related to safety-oriented choices in the design, operation, and control of systems.     

Human factors applied to alarm panel modernization of nuclear control room

Human factors deal with issues related to humans, their behavior and the physical aspect of the environment in which they work. A control room is a complex system where operators perform plant operation using control systems and carry out monitoring and administrative responsibilities. For safe operation of industrial installation, the performance of the control room crew plays an important role. In this respect, a well designed control room is crucial for safe and efficient operation. The aim of this paper is to propose a methodological framework applied to nuclear control room evaluation, through participatory ergonomics, using operator activity analysis and human factors questionnaire as aid tools. We describe a case study in which the methodology framework was used in the evaluation process of a nuclear control room. The information gathered made possible a series of recommendation for the adequacy of the control room design, assisting in the safety assessment of the nuclear plant operation and justifying the alarm panel modernization.     

Experimental analysis of 31 risk estimation tools applied to safety of machinery

This article studies differences in the results of using different risk estimation tools in the same hazardous situations involving dangerous machinery. We investigated how (a) types of risk estimation parameters and methods of constructing tools, (b) the number of levels of each parameter, and (c) the number of risk levels influence the results. Consequently, 31 risk estimation tools were compared by using them to estimate risk levels associated with 20 hazardous situations. Risk estimation appears to be tool-dependent, as different tools give different results with identical hazardous situations. The scope of the tool, its use, and construction could explain these differences. This article also proposes a series of rules for constructing tools to alleviate many problems associated with the variability of risk estimations.