Revision and validation of the Health and Safety Executive Management Standards Indicator Tool among health care workers

Background: Workplace stress is a serious workplace hazard, especially for high-stress occupations such as healthcare workers. Identifying valid and reliable tools to measure conditions related to workplace stress is essential for targeted interventions. The aim of this study was to determine the psychometric properties of the revised version of the Health & Safety Executive Indicator Tool (HSE). Methods: An item pool was generated based on the HSE Indicator Tool and the findings of a qualitative study. After face and content validity, the psychometric properties of the instrument were examined. Cronbach's alpha, McDonald's omega and intra-class correlation coefficient were calculated to assess reliability. Results: A total of 220 health care workers from 80 primary health care centers in 5 cities in Iran completed the Health & Safety Executive-Developed Occupational Stress Indicator Tool (HSE-DOSIT). In exploratory factor analysis, 35 items were loaded, which indicated a 9-factor solution for the questionnaire. Six factors were the same as the original UK version (Superior support, Demands, Job control, Social support, Changes, and Relationships) and three new factors were added (Non-job factors, Cognitive structure and Individual context). Cronbach's alpha (0.949), MacDonald Omega (from 0.739 to 0.894), and intra-class correlation coefficient (0.92) were acceptable Conclusions: Overall, the results show that the HSE-DOSIT is reliable and valid. In other words, HSE-DOSIT can be useful for identifying organizational, social and individual factors related to workplace stress and implementing targeted interventions. However, further evaluation of HSE-DOSIT is recommended.