Investigation of Job Stress and Related Factors in Firefighters in the Cities of Ahvaz and Yazd, Iran

Objectives: Although all jobs are stressful, professions contributing to human health are of utmost importance. Firefighting is a stressful and dangerous job where firefighters tend to have high levels of job stress. This study aims to explore occupational stress in firefighters.Methods: This descriptive, cross-sectional study was performed in 2013. Participants comprised 244 firefighters from Yazd’s and Ahvaz’s fire departments. The data were collected using the HSE job stress questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS 21 software.Results: The participants’ age ranged from 25 to 54 years, with a mean of 39.02 ± 7.44. The working history of the participants was 1 to 28 years, with a mean of 13.14 ± 7.17. There was a significant difference between the education and working history of participants and their stress levels (p = 0.013 and p = 0.001, respectively). Stress decreased with increasing age (p = 0.075 and r = −0.114) and working history (p = 0.071 and r = 0.116), but these variables were not statistically correlated.Conclusion: According to this study, healthcare politicians should develop training programs that focus on communication skills and staff and administrative support for fire workers. It appears that, due to the stressful job of firefighters, training programs should be designed with an emphasis on the importance of communication skills and on support from colleagues and authorities, in order to foster better health and performance in employees.

Keywords:

Job stress , Firefighters , Yazd and Ahvaz