The effects of nutritional status and working conditions of master builders and apprentices on their performance at an occupational training center

This research was planned and carried out for the purpose of determining the ideas of the workers about the effects of working conditions and their nutritional status on their occupational performance. The sample of this research is 167 workers being educated at Gürhan Titrek Occupational Training Center in Çankırı. The data in the research was collected by means of a questionnaire developed by the researcher, physical activity record form and food consumption record form. Chi-Square test, Student?s t test, variance analysis methods were used in the analysis of data. Logistic regression analysis was used for the determination of risk factors.The percentage of male workers is 89.8 % and female workers is 10.2 % who participated in this research. Average age is 21.51±8.25. It has been identifed that 79.6 % of workers work more than 8 hours per day, 58.7 % of workers face some health problems caused by their work and health problems increase as daily working hours increase . It has been determined that 58.1 % of the workers faced various occupational accidents in the previous year.When the conditions in the working places were examined; it was identified that 46.7 % of the working places did not have local illumination, the illumination in 85.0 % of them caused eyes of the workers to be dazzled, 27.5 % of them did not have enough number of windows for the workers to benefit from daylight, 58.1 % of them did not have heating or cooling systems, 37.1 % of them did not have enough number of windows for ventilation, 37.1 % of them had toxic steam, explosive gas etc. in the environment, 44.3 % of them had noise levels that prevented communication, 35.3 % of them had noise that was continually at the same level. When asked about the precautions taken against the inappropriatenesses in the working environment; 33.5 % of the workers stated that they did not have breaks after tiring working sessions or in a regular basis, 44.9 % of them stated that there was not suitable resting places to be used in the breaks, 58.1 % of them stated that necessary precautions against toxic materials, gases, dust and smoke that present in the environment were not taken, 64.7 % of them stated that they did not have regular medical check-ups.The average energy intakes of the light, medium and heavy activity workers are 2481.07±418.24 kcal, 2557.89±404.59 kcal and 2686.46±410.90 kcal consecutively; whereas their energy expenditures are 2594.14±389.55 kcal, 3135.75±300.66 kcal and 3851.74±411.22 kcal consecutively. The difference between energy intakes and energy expenditures of workers according to their activity levels is found to meaningful statistically . It was determined that energy intake of 9.1 % of medium activity workers and 34.1 % of heavy activity workers is insufficient . It was also determined that protein intake of 74.9 % and carbohydrate intake of 100 % of all workers is excessive. The relation between meal skipping, health condition and occupational accident occurence is found to be meaningful statistically .The important factors about workers? nutritional status that reduce their peformance are in order: Low quality food and unsuitable menu selection in the working environment, frequent meal skipping, not eating enough food, inappropriate eating places, not being able to drink tea, coffee etc. during working hours, low quality food and unsuitable menu selection at home. It was determined that important factors that effect the performance of the workers in the working environment are as follows in order: Hot or cold working envrionment, not having enough rest because of short breaks, presence of dust, smoke, chemical material etc. in the environment, noise level, lack of color harmony in the accomodation of the walls and machines, stuffy air, insufficient illumination, untidiness of the working environment, floors that are slippery and soft but not flat, machines not accomodated appropriately for work flow, inappropriate weight and size of the machines and tools, smoking in the working environment, vibration caused by the machines and inappropriateness of size and height of working place.When the relation between properties of the working environment and occupational accidents is researched, it was determined that; not having local illumination, not having windows that provide natural illumination and ventilation and not having routine meintenance and control of the machines and tools increase the risk of occupational accidents in different levels . When the relation between properties of the working environment and health status of the workers is researched, it was identifed that; not having local illumination, high noise levels that prevent communication, not having breaks after tiring working sessions or in a regular basis, not having suitable resting places to be used in the breaks, working at unsuitable tables, chairs or using inappropriate tools and not having routine meintenance and control of the machines and tools have statistically significant relationship with the health problems of the workers. It has been determined that these negative working conditions increase the probabilty of health problem occurences in different levels. It was determined that as the total working time and experience in the same working place increase, the willingness of the workers to continue in the same working place decreases . Besides, it was identified that the inappropriatenesses of the working conditions is an important factor which is decreasing the willingness of the workers to continue in the same working place.When the effects of ergonomic appropriatenesses of the working environment and nutritional status of workers on their biological and psychological health status are taken into account, it is important to improve the working conditions at the workplace, to organize the nutritional status of the workers, to inform the employers and employees about these issues. It will then be possible to obtain the best occupational performance, productivity, good worker health status and occupational safety when these requirements are met.Keywords: Worker, worker health, occupational safety, worker nutrition, working conditions, worker performance.