Factors related to accident, illness and stress of secondary school teachers in the Klang Valley, Malaysia
Similar to other occupations, teachers are exposed to various safety and health hazards in school during the long working hours they spend in their workplace. Interestingly, the general public may not have realized this fact or even if being aware, may not have thought that their safety, health,...
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| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2019
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/84221/1/FPSK%20%28m%29%202019%2044%20UPM%20ir.pdf |
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| Summary: | Similar to other occupations, teachers are exposed to various safety and health hazards
in school during the long working hours they spend in their workplace. Interestingly, the
general public may not have realized this fact or even if being aware, may not have
thought that their safety, health, and welfare bear collective significance towards the
future of the country. There has been a lack of focus on occupational safety and health
(OSH) issues among teachers in Malaysia. This study aimed to determine the prevalence
and predictors associated with the illness among secondary schools’ teachers in a
different location of school in Malaysia.
This cross-sectional study was carried out among secondary schools’ teachers in Klang
Valley. Two hundred and twelve respondents who fulfilled the study criteria volunteered
to participate in the study using stratified sampling methods. A self-administered
questionnaire was used, which consist of six main sections: socio-demographic
characteristics, teaching background, knowledge and experience in OSH issues,
workplace accident, illness, and psychological factors. The types of the accident in the
questionnaire were adapted based on the Social Security Organisation (SOCSO)’s
Annual Report whereas illness adapted from Subjective Health Complaints Inventory
(SHC) while Depression Anxiety Stress Scales 21 items (DASS 21) was used to
determine psychological status among respondent. Data were analyzed using the
Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25.
The prevalence of illness was 81.9%. School location (p = 0.004), having other
professional roles in school besides teaching (p = 0.010), total amount of other
professional roles (p = 0.046), number of subject teaching (p = 0.040), and anxiety (p =
0.002) were significantly associated with the prevalence of illness. Rural school teachers
(OR = 0.310, p = 0.017) have lower odds to have an illness whereas teachers with two or more subjects teaching (OR = 3.001, p = 0.026), participated in safety-related training
activities (OR = 3.924, p = 0.022), with anxiety symptom (OR = 7.033, p = 0.005), and
being involved in school accident in the past year (OR = 4.414, p = 0.015) have higher
odds of having an illness.
It appeared that there are causes to be concerned based on the findings in this study. The
prevalence of illness although self-reported should not be taken lightly as the symptoms
regardless of being psychosomatic or psychophysiology can potentially affect the
performance and teachers. In the spirit of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (1994),
it is the responsibility of the Ministry of Education to ensure the safe and healthy
workplace environment of the teachers in the school. Working together with other
stakeholders, further investigation nationwide should be carried out to determine and
develop a policy to mitigate the Occupational Safety and Health issues among the
teachers. |
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