Investigation of the relationship between technical service employees' stress perceptions and occupational health and safety behaviors

The aim of this study is to analyze the effect of occupational health and safety (OHS) perception of technical service employees on work stress. For this purpose, data on OHS perceptions and job stress levels of 243 technical service personnel working in a Technical Service sector operating in Diyarbakır were collected through a questionnaire. Data on their perceptions of OHS and their job stress levels were collected through a questionnaire. A 5-point Likert-type scale was used to determine statistically their perceptions of OHS awareness and safety culture, and their perceptions of OHS awareness and safety culture were tried to be determined. "Frequency Analysis" and "Descriptive Analysis" were conducted to determine the demographic characteristics of each participant of the study. In order to determine the distribution of the data, the values of "Kurtosis-Skewness" and "Mean-Median" from the Central Tendency Measurements were examined and since it was determined that the data showed normal distribution, parametric tests were used. "Descriptive Analysis" was conducted to examine the scores obtained by the participants from the measurement tools. As a result of the normal distribution of the data, the "Independent Sample T-Test" was used to compare the groups of 2, and the "One-Way Anova Test" for the comparison of more than two groups. "Pearson Correlation" analysis was performed to examine the relationships between Scale Dimensions. As a result of the study, it was concluded that in order to reduce work accidents and ensure a safety culture, the management and internal communication should be at an absolute level, and work accidents should be increased by eliminating or minimizing work stress. As a result of the study, the reliability level of the prepared OHS awareness scale was found to be 0.985, and the reliability level of the work stress scale was found to be 0.937. In the survey study, it was determined that 93% of the participants took OHS training and approximately 94% of them did not experience a work accident. It was obtained average 4.59±0.65 value in the section A of the study, and with this result, it was determined that the OHS awareness of the employees was quite high. In the B section of the study, it was obtained the average 3.55±0.76 value, and it was determined that the work stress levels were above the average in general. As a result, it was concluded that the management and internal communication should be at an absolute level in order to reduce work accidents and ensure a safety culture, and that the work stress should be eliminated or reduced to minimum levels in order to increase the working performance of the employee at the workplace. Keywords: Occupational Health and Safety, Work Stress, Technical Service Employees