Individual and job factors affecting the incidence of occupational violence among workers in industries

In international organization, deviant behaviors such as occupational violence is known as a serious crisis. It can lead to mental stress and reduce the job satisfaction, social and family relationships. The aim of this study was to investigate the individual and job factors affecting the incidence of occupational violence among workers in different industries in East Azerbaijan.

Method and material:

 This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2018. Research population consisted of all personnel in five industries, including chocolate factory, food industry, health products, steel and agricultural industry in East Azerbaijan. Data were collected by a researcher made questionnaire, provided based on ILO and WHO standard questionnaires which its validity and reliability were confirmed in previous studies. Data analysis was performed using multiple logistic regression tests by SPSS-V22.

In all the industries, verbal violence, with frequency 46.6%, was the most common type of violence. Internal organizational factors had the important roles in the incidence of occupational violence in these industries. Logistic regression showed statistically significant associations between referring to a psychiatrist (P=0.005), gender (P=0.001), work shift(P=0.001) and occupational violence.

Because verbal violence is prevalence in the industries, it seems that planning and measures should be taken to reduce it. So, deployment of ergonomics and psychology intervention are recommended to reduce the stressful environmental conditions and violence among employees.