Study of Job Burnout and Problems of Shift Workers of a Water & Wastewater Contracting Company in Tehran

Aims: Shift work is an unusual work pattern compared to day work. It can have adverse effects on human life from various aspects. Effects of shift work on people depend on their job, organizational and social environment, personal traits, and shift work schedule characteristics. The present study aimed at determining the job burnout and problems of shift workers of a water & wastewater contracting company in Tehran. Instruments & Methods: This is a cross sectional study conducted in a water and wastewater contracting company in Tehran in 2015. The subjects of the study were 89 males (51 shift workers and 38 daytime workers). The Survey of Shift workers (SOS) and Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) questionnaires were used to assess the shift work-related problems and job burnout, respectively. Finally, the data were analyzed by R software and statistical tests. Findings: The findings of this study did not show significant difference in the values of job burnout dimensions in both groups (shift workers and daytime workers). Job burnout scores for shift workers group showed that 27.3% in depersonalization and 19.5% in personal accomplishment dimensions were in severe problems category. According to the independent samples t-test, there was a significant difference in sleep hours in both groups (p<0.05). Also, 5.8% of the shift workers and 23.6% of the daytime workers had cardiovascular disorders. Conclusion: In this study, most of the shift workers were satisfied with their shift work system. It seems that more surveys in this area for the future studies is necessary.