Study on the Occupational Stressors of Indian Seafarers

The study aims to investigate the impact of the factors of occupational stress on the job satisfaction of seafarers. The occupational stress is considered as one of the most important workplace hazards for seafarers, which may have a detrimental effect on the job satisfaction. In the competitive 24-hour industry where shift work and long working hours are common, the potential for stress at sea is extremely high. Stress is associated with impaired individual functioning in the workplace and the negative effects of the stress include reduced efficiency, decreased capacity to perform, dampened initiative and reduced interest in working, increased rigidity of thought, a lack of concern for the colleagues and a loss of responsibility (Greenberg and Baron, 1995; Matteson and Ivancevich, 1982). Stress has been associated with important occupational outcomes of job satisfaction, organisational commitment and employee withdrawal behaviour (Naumann, 1993; Sullivan and Bhagat, 1992; Tett and Meyer, 1993; Williams and Hazer, 1986). High levels of work stress are associated with low levels of job satisfaction (Landsbergis, 1988; Terry et al., 1993) and the job stressors are predictive of job dissatisfaction and a greater propensity to leave the organisation. The study had analysed the occupational stress and its impact on the job satisfaction of the seafarers' using the dimensions of Job Description Index model.