Tag: working conditions

Categories : General InterestTags :

Hyundai Automotive South Africa Reaffirms Disability Inclusion and Mobility for All

On By ModernMedia
Photo by Ivan S

Hyundai Automotive South Africa reaffirmed its commitment towards embedding disability inclusion into its operations, through continuous  disability-related employee training, improving dealership layouts and vehicle modifications. 

The aim is to foster a culture that recognises disability as part of human diversity rather than a limitation.  “Mobility is not just about getting from one point to another, rather, about access and dignity,” said Stanley Anderson, CEO of Hyundai Automotive South Africa. 

“Our commitment is to ensure our vehicles and dealerships are adequately prepared to support the needs of all customers, including those with disabilities.  More importantly, we want to empower our customer-facing employees with deeper understanding of disability, dismantle misconceptions.  By so doing, we will ensure that customers with disabilities feel welcomed, respected and supported when visiting any Hyundai dealership.”

It has also implemented a range of practical measures to ensure its dealerships are physically accessible and welcoming to persons with disabilities.  This includes improving dealership layouts for ease of movement, ensuring wheelchair-friendly access points. 

The company works closely with a range of specialised suppliers who modify some of its vehicles to suit the mobility needs of persons with disabilities.  “These partnerships ensure that more South Africans can access safe, reliable and custom-adapted mobility solutions suited to their lifestyles and independence,” stated Christine Masinga, Human Resources Director at Hyundai Automotive South Africa.

The national disability prevalence rate in South Africa is estimated at around 7.5%.  Despite national government targets for 2% representation of persons with disabilities in workplaces, recent reports indicate that they comprise less than 1% of the total employees across both government and private companies.

According to the Department of Employment and Labour, eight out of ten disabled persons are unemployed nationally, which is significantly higher than the general unemployment rate.

Categories : Mental HealthTags :

Job Strain Compromises Sleep Quality Years Later

On By ModernMedia
Photo by Andrea Piacquadio

In a recent study published in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine, middle aged workers in the US who reported high job strain at the start of the study experienced significantly more sleep disturbances over an average follow-up of nine years.

The study analysed data from 1721 workers, with an average age of 51 years, who participated in the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) study. Sleep disturbances were assessed with an established scale, based on four sleep-related symptoms: trouble falling asleep, waking up during the night and having difficulty going back to sleep, waking up too early in the morning and being unable to get back to sleep, and feeling unrested during the day no matter how many hours of sleep.

The team used six different formulations to quantify job strain based on Karasek’s Job‐Demand‐Control model, which defines job strain as a combination of high job demand and low job control. All formulations showed significant associations between higher job strain at baseline and increased sleep disturbances over time.

“Our findings also suggest that the continuous formulations of job strain demonstrate better model performance with consistent and robust results, offering empirical evidence for future psychosocial occupational health research in the United States,” said the first author Yijia Sun, an MS candidate at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Corresponding author Jian Li, MD, PhD, a professor of Work and Health at the University of California, Los Angeles, noted that there is an urgent need for workplace interventions to reduce stress. “Strategies such as redesigning workloads and promoting worker autonomy could play an important role in improving sleep health and workers’ well-being,” he said.

Source: Wiley