A Study of Burnout in Accident Investigators in the US Mining Industry

Details

• Personal Author:
  Kowalski, Kathleen M. ; Podlesny, Audrey
• Description:
  The Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) was administered and scored for 154 Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) employees from the US Department of Labor. These employees serve as accident investigators for serious accidents and fatalities as part of their job duties. During a workshop on stress designed for them, subjects volunteered anonymous written anecdotes, confirming and illustrating the findings. The subjects represented locations across the USA and all mining commodities: coal, metal, non-metal, stone, and sand and gravel. The Maslach Burnout Inventory assesses three aspects of experienced burnout: emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation, and reduced personal accomplishments. The average results of the scores for each of the three subscales for the study group of MSHA accident investigators fell in the moderate range. These scores show that the subject population was at some risk for emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation, tending toward burnout. The group evidenced a lower sense of personal accomplishment in their jobs, indicating a higher risk for burnout. From this outcome accident investigators may be at moderate (note: this does not mean average) risk for burnout. The authors recommend follow-up with this population - specifically in training to work with grieving families; and greater organisational support for the accident investigators in this area would be appropriate. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Accidents, Occupational Coal Coal Mining Fatigue Mental Disorders Mental Health Mining Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Occupational Injuries Safety Stress, Psychological

  More +
• Keywords:
  Accident-analysis Accident Investigators Accidents Author Keywords: Burnout Coal-mining Emotional-stress Job-stress Job Stress Mental-fatigue Mental-stress Mine-disasters Mining-industry Occupational-accidents Occupational-hazards Occupational Safety And Health Psychological-stress

  More +
• Series:
  Mining Publications
• ISSN:
  1471-4825
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; Pennsylvania
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  PRL - Pittsburgh Research Laboratory
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  155-169
• Volume:
  1
• Issue:
  2
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20022901
• Citation:
  Int J Emerg Manag 2002 Jan; 1(2):155-169
• Contact Point Address:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Pittsburgh Research Laboratory, PO Box 18070, 626 Cochrans Mill Road, Pittsburgh, PA, 15236, USA
• Email:
  Kkowalski@cdc.gov
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2002
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  International Journal of Emergency Management
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:9952f48dd5b0e8a06f868cd79ec8a850c6a1df37dde780c742fe83f17bf8d2b023da4d8e40c2c5daac3652b444ffc469130f73ea1d4008af186851f4b16e3eed
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/220595/cdc_220595_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 818.06 KB ]