Browsing: Journal articles - occupational medicine research | Page 15

Providing specific opportunities for employees who work from home to use mindfulness meditation apps, has a positive effect on team mindfulness and psychological safety, improving job performance, new research has found.

A new study has found shift work that involves working nights is significantly associated with sleep medication use, and identified an increasing prevalence of shift workers taking up these prescription-based hypnotics.

The COVID-19 pandemic triggered a rapid public health response that included work-from-home orders, disrupting traditional working patterns and leading to many companies adopting a flexible approach on a permanent basis. But remote work comes with the risk of multisite musculoskeletal pain, and employers must look beyond workstation set-ups to prevent it, Australian researchers have found.

In a study that sends a warning to all employers with remote-work arrangements, Canadian researchers have found teachers involved in online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic experienced less predictable workflow and less support from supervisors and colleagues than teachers in classrooms, increasing their risk of burnout.

New workers, especially younger employees, can benefit from special training to improve "hardiness" and coping skills, according to researchers, who warn occupational burnout risks have increased with the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic rapidly accelerated the move to home-based work, and HR and WHS teams need to proactively ensure employees working from home don't face increased stress, isolation and burnout, according to a lead article in the latest Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

A meta-analysis has identified a significant association between shift work and a decrease in neurobehavioural performance, highlighting the need for workplace health and safety policies to focus on protective countermeasures like recovery plans.

A major study on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of Australia's medical workforce has shown a marked increase in mental health symptoms among all doctors, with junior doctors most at risk.

A large new study of the link between job type and the fatal neurodegenerative disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), indicates that exposure to metals in occupations such as welding is a risk factor for developing the disease.

In a timely study on the insidious reach of silica, Swedish researchers have found a significantly high level of chronic lung disease in metal foundry workers exposed to silica dust, even at levels well below government exposure limits.