Work Stress, Sleepiness and Predicting Work Situation Awareness among Workers

Objective: An important factor in the prevention of industrial accidents is the employees’ ability to maintain their awareness of the work situation, understand the information it holds, and predict the development of the situations. In this study, we examined the role of work stress and sleepiness in predicting work situation awareness among workers.  Methods: The present study was a cross-sectional study, conducted in 2014. The sample consisted of 180 employees in the National Petrochemical Company. They were selected according to the stratified random sampling method and responded to questionnaires about demographic characteristics, work situation awareness of Sneddon, Mearns, and Flin (2013), work stress of Cohen et al. (1983), and Epworth sleepiness scale. The data were analyzed by correlation coefficient and stepwise regression by using the SPSS 15.  Results: The results showed that there were internal correlation among work stress, sleepiness, and work situation awareness. Also, the results of stepwise regression analysis revealed that work stress and sleepiness significantly predicted, respectively, almost 23% and 26% of variances of work situation awareness among workers.  Conclusion: According to the findings of the present study, work stress and sleepiness can predict work situation awareness. Therefore, considering these variables can be important in promoting the awareness of work situation among workers.