Mental health and work efficiency are adversely affected by exposure to physical and chemical hazards in the workplace. This study is the first large scale evaluation of the relationship between physical and chemical hazard exposure in the workplace in relation to the mental health of Korean workers.

A national survey of a random sample of workers (n=10,043) was conducted between June and September 2006 in Korea. Physical and chemical hazards in the workplace were considered if exposure occurred over more than a quarter of the time spent at work. Mental health problems were defined as work-related depression, anxiety or insomnia. We analyzed whether physical and chemical hazards were independent risk factors for work-related mental health problems by multiple logistic regression analysis after adjusting for age, gender, employment type, education, occupation, duty schedule, work hours, smoking, and alcohol consumption.

The mean age of surveyed workers was 42 years and 58% were male. A total of 7.8% of workers had work-related mental health problems. Exposure to high temperature, mist, fumes, dust, chemicals, and radiation were associated with an increased risk of work-related mental health problems.

This study reaffirmed that physical and chemical hazard exposure in the workplace significantly elevates the risk of work-related mental health problems.