TY - JOUR
T1 - Working around it
T2 - Rail drivers' views on the barriers and enablers to managing workplace health
AU - Naweed, Anjum
AU - Trigg, Joshua L.
AU - Allan, Matthew
AU - Chapman, Janine
PY - 2017/12/4
Y1 - 2017/12/4
N2 - Purpose - The rail driver workplace is full of challenges for effective health management. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how known barriers in rail driving may be overcome by seeking enablers of positive health status and lifestyle. Design/methodology/approach - Five focus groups were conducted with 29 rail drivers from four rail organisations across three Australian states. Transcribed data were analysed using directed content analysis and thematic coding to develop health enabler themes and categories. Findings - Formal initiatives to manage health were piecemeal. Efforts to maintain health involved countering deteriorative, and promoting restorative, health factors. Themes systematically illustrated work environmental, adaptational, and autonomous features of health management. Participants expressed many different approaches to enabling positive health status, and how these connected to known barriers. Research limitations/implications - Discussion of personal health issues within the rail industry is considered a taboo topic by some, therefore participants who took part in this study data may be more representative of health-conscious drivers. Practical implications - Occupational health in rail can be enabled in multiple ways, including: improving social support, scheduling certainty, and cross-communication around health behaviours; increasing flexibility and environmental support for health behaviours; and directly promoting dietary control and physical activity engagement. Given the diversity and global representativeness of rail systems found within Australia, the findings have international application. Originality/value - This study uses a strength-focussed approach to highlight multiple leverage points for organisational rail-driver health interventions across three levels of the system, helping improve health intervention efficacy despite the intractable nature of their environments.
AB - Purpose - The rail driver workplace is full of challenges for effective health management. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how known barriers in rail driving may be overcome by seeking enablers of positive health status and lifestyle. Design/methodology/approach - Five focus groups were conducted with 29 rail drivers from four rail organisations across three Australian states. Transcribed data were analysed using directed content analysis and thematic coding to develop health enabler themes and categories. Findings - Formal initiatives to manage health were piecemeal. Efforts to maintain health involved countering deteriorative, and promoting restorative, health factors. Themes systematically illustrated work environmental, adaptational, and autonomous features of health management. Participants expressed many different approaches to enabling positive health status, and how these connected to known barriers. Research limitations/implications - Discussion of personal health issues within the rail industry is considered a taboo topic by some, therefore participants who took part in this study data may be more representative of health-conscious drivers. Practical implications - Occupational health in rail can be enabled in multiple ways, including: improving social support, scheduling certainty, and cross-communication around health behaviours; increasing flexibility and environmental support for health behaviours; and directly promoting dietary control and physical activity engagement. Given the diversity and global representativeness of rail systems found within Australia, the findings have international application. Originality/value - This study uses a strength-focussed approach to highlight multiple leverage points for organisational rail-driver health interventions across three levels of the system, helping improve health intervention efficacy despite the intractable nature of their environments.
KW - Diet
KW - Health promotion
KW - Obesity
KW - Occupational hazard
KW - Rail drivers
KW - Workplace health
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85035322364&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1108/IJWHM-08-2017-0060
DO - 10.1108/IJWHM-08-2017-0060
M3 - Article
VL - 10
SP - 475
EP - 490
JO - International Journal of Workplace Health Management
JF - International Journal of Workplace Health Management
SN - 1753-8351
IS - 6
ER -