Psychosocial Risks and Occupational Health in a Mexican Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises

Authors: Magdalena Escamilla Quintal, Thelma Cetina Canto, Cecilia Aguilar Ortega

Abstract:

Due to the importance that people represent for companies, the setting of a clear control of the risks that threaten the health and the material and financial resources of workers is essential. It is irrelevant if the company is a small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) or a large multinational, or if it is in the construction or service sector. The risk prevention importance is related to a constitutional and human right that all people have; working in a risk-free environment to prevent accidents or illnesses that may influence their quality of life and the tranquility of their family. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the level of psychosocial risks (physical and emotional) of the employees of an SME. The participants of this study were 186 employees of a productive sector SME; 151 men and 35 women, all with an average age of 31.77 years. Their seniority inside the SME was between one month and 19.91 years. Ninety-six workers were from the production area, 28 from the management area, as well as 25 from the sales area and 40 from the supplies area. Ninety-three workers were found in Uman, 78 in Playa del Carmen, 11 in Cancun and seven in Cd. del Carmen. We found a statistically significant relationship between the burnout variable and the engagement and psychosomatic complaints as well as between the variables of sex, burnout and psychosomatic complaints. We can conclude that, for benefit of the SME, that there are low levels of burnout and psychosomatic complaints, the women experience major levels of burnout and the men show major levels of psychosomatic complaints. The findings, contributions, limitations and future proposals will be analyzed.

Keywords: Psychosocial risks, SME, burnout, engagement, psychosomatic complaints.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI): doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1124929

References:

[1] ILO. (2005). Promotional framework in the field of safety and health at work. Geneva, Switzerland.
[2] Salanova, M. (2006). Medida y evaluación del burnout: Nuevas perspectivas. In P. Gil-Monte, M. Salanova, J. L. Aragon and W. B. Schaufeli (Eds.), Jornada: El síndrome de quemarse por el trabajo en servicios sociales (pp. 27-43). Valencia: Valencia Deputation
[3] Salanova, M., and Llorens, S. (2008). Estado actual y retos futuros en el estudio del burnout. Papeles del Psicólogo, 29(1), 59-67.
[4] Gil-Monte, P. R. (2002). Influencia del género sobre el proceso de desarrollo del síndrome de quemarse por el trabajo (Burnout) en profesionales de enfermería. Psicología em Estudo, Maringa, 7(1) 3-10.
[5] Maslach, C., Jackson, S. E., and Leiter, M. P. (1996). Maslach Burnout Inventory Manual (3rd Ed.). Palo Alto, CA: ConsultingPsychologists.
[6] Bakker, A. and Rodriguez Muñoz, A. (2012). Introducción a la Psicología de la Salud ocupacional positiva. Psicothema, 24 (1), 60-66
[7] Salanova, M., Grau, R. M., and Martínez, I. M. (2005). Demandas laborales y conductas de afrontamiento: El rol modulador de la autoeficacia profesional. Psicothema, 17(3), 390-395.
[8] Salanova, M., and Schaufeli, W. B. (2004). El engagement de los empleados: Un reto emergente para la dirección de los recursos humanos. Estudios Financieros, 261, 109-138.
[9] Schaufeli, W. B., Arnold B., Bakker, A. B., and Salanova, M. (2006). The measurement of work engagement with a short questionnaire: Across-national study. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 66(4), 701-716. ¡???
[10] Cooper, C.L.; Sloan, S.L. and Williams, S. (1988). Occupational Stress Indicator Management Guide. Windsor: NFER- Nelson.
[11] Antoniou, A. S., Polychroni, F., and Vlachakis, A. N. (2006). Gender and age differences in occupational stress and professional burnout between primary and high-school teachers in Greece. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 21(7), 682-690
[12] Coronado, L. K. (2006). Factores laborales y niveles de estrés laboral en enfermeros de los servicios de áreas críticas y medicina del Hospital Nacional Daniel A. Carrión. Unpublished undergraduate thesis. Lima, Perú: Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos.
[13] Kosmala-Anderson, J., and Wallace, L. M. (2006). Diferencias de género en las reacciones psicosomáticas de los estudiantes afectados por el estrés de los exámenes. Electronic Journal of Research in Educational Psychology12, 5(2), 325-348.
[14] Padilla, V. M., Peña, J. A., and Arriaga, A. E. (2006). Patrones de personalidad tipo A y B, estrés laboral y correlatos psicofisiológicos. Psicología y Salud, 16(1), 79-85.
[15] González-Morales, M. G. (2006). Estrés laboral, afrontamiento sus consecuencias: El papel del género. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. Universidad de Valencia, Valencia, España.
[16] Seligman, M. E. P., and Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2000). Positive psychology. American Psychologist, 55, 1-14.
[17] Simmons, B. L., and Nelson, D. L. (2001). Eustress at work: The relationship between hope and health in hospital nurses. Health Care Manager Review, 26(4), 7-18.