Exposure to Psychosocial Work Factors and Occupational Injury and Its Severity: Prospective Associations Among Employees in the French National Working Conditions Survey

Background

The few prospective studies on the associations between psychosocial work factors and occupational injury in the general working population provide little information on multiple exposures, injury severity, and gender differences. This study aimed to address these points.

Methods

The study was based on prospective data from the nationwide Working Conditions survey on a representative sample of the working population in France. A total of 17,486 employees (7302 men, 10,184 women) were followed over one or two 3-year periods from 2013 to 2019. Occupational exposures were measured at the beginning of each period and included 20 psychosocial work factors, 4 working time/hours factors, and 4 physical work factors. Logistic and Hurdle models were used to study their prospective associations with occupational injury and its severity, as assessed by work absence due to injury and its duration.

Results

Most psychosocial work factors predicted occupational injury. Almost all associations persisted in adjusted models, that is, after controlling for covariates and the other occupational factors that were also predictive of occupational injury. No gender differences were found for these prospective associations. For all types of occupational factors, dose–response associations were found between the number of exposures and injury. However, most occupational factors were not predictive of injury severity.

Conclusions

Occupational exposures, and psychosocial work factors in particular, predicted the occurrence of occupational injury more than its severity. Occupational injury prevention programmes should focus on various aspects of the work environment, including psychosocial work factors, and should particularly target multiple exposures.