Paper Title :Study on The Risk Factors of Work-Related Fatigue among Taxi Drivers

Author :Tsung-Yun Chan, Ruey-Yu Chen, Ching-Ying Yeh, Shu-Hsuan Yeh

Article Citation :Tsung-Yun Chan ,Ruey-Yu Chen ,Ching-Ying Yeh ,Shu-Hsuan Yeh , (2019 ) " Study on The Risk Factors of Work-Related Fatigue among Taxi Drivers " , International Journal of Management and Applied Science (IJMAS) , pp. 62-67, Volume-5,Issue-2

Abstract : The self-employed Taxi driver gets less attention because of the great variations in work hours and work conditions. However, taxi drivers are often exposed to harmful work surroundings. For instance, they have to repeatedly perform highly concentrated movements and sit in a sedentary fashion for long periods of time in a confined and stuffy space, taking meals irregularly, needing to hold urine for long periods, and deal with the frustrations of driving in congested traffic. Meanwhile, fatigue from constant driving often becomes a major issue for road safety. These conditions cause bad health, mental issues, and severe accidents, therefore, it is important to better understand their needs and offer more appropriate help. This study aims to know and understand the work status, risk factors, both physical and psychological, and overall condition of taxi drivers, and estimate the correlation between work-related risk factors and subjective fatigue. The selfreported questionnaire was used as the major material for this study. Information was collected from male taxi drivers who work in either Taipei City or New Taipei City. The participants reported in at the taxi parking locations and rest stations. About 90 percent of participants experience terrible sleep quality and 70 percent of participants were experiencing less than satisfactory lifestyle fulfillment. The questionnaires reflected a total aggregate fatigue score of 92.7 out of 300, or roughly 31%, and a personal burn-out score of 34.9. Work-related burn-out averaged a score of 31.8and the client-related burnout averaged a score of 27.0, respectively. Which is slightly higher than paid employees and overall employees in the transportation field. The information obtained showed several risk factors that were directly related to their occupational characteristics, life style behaviors, health status, and level of subjective fatigue. Most of the taxi drivers age over 40 and work over 8 hours per day with an average of 9.7 hours a day thereby contributing to excess fatigue. In addition, emotional disturbances of a personal nature appeared to be highly related to this fatigue. The data reflected a significant correlation between the extended working hours and work related disturbances in wellbeing and emotional stability. Because of the extended working hours, the drivers often resorted to stay-awake food or drink during work cycles which also contributed to the stress and emotional instability. Hopefully, the findings in this current study could be used as a basis for further research and Workplace Health Promotions targeting taxi drivers. It is necessary and important to investigate these issues more thoroughly in order to propose corresponding health services and health promotion suggestions for keeping them healthy and safe. Keywords- Taxi Drivers, Subjective Fatigue, Work-Related Characteristics, Health Status.

Type : Research paper

Published : Volume-5,Issue-2

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