Evaluation of Relationship between Job Stress and Unsafe Acts with Occupational Accident Rates in a Vehicle Manufacturing in Iran

Nowadays, occupational accidents are one of the most important problems in developing countries. Job stress and unsafe acts have been also recognized as effective factors in increasing the risk of occupational accidents. The main goal of this research was to evaluate the relationship between job stress and unsafe acts with occupational accidents. This study was performed on 195 employees in Pars Khodro industry in 2007. Safety behavior sampling technique and standardized job stress questionnaire were used in current research. The information was then analyzed using SPSS and statistic tests. According to findings of job stress questionnaire 88 percent of workers were at level of high stress. Accidents at work were associated with job stress and unsafe acts. There was also a significant relationship between job stress and unsafe acts (p< 0.05). The regression logistic test showed that 1% increase in the rate of unsafe practice had a higher impact on the number of accidents than a 1% increase in job-related stress. Therefore, based on the degree of change in these two variables, it is possible to predict the number of accidents in an organization. Reducing or eliminating identified effective stress factors and decreasing unsafe acts have been suggested to control the consequences of accidents. To achieve this, implementing behavior based safety principles can be an effective measure.