Assessment of the Relationship between Job Demand, Work Stress and Fatigue among Railway Workers in Warri-Itakpe Train Service, Nigeria

Abstract

Occupational fatigue in the railway industry is a multidimensional problem deeply embedded in the psychosocial architecture of the working environment. Among the psychosocial risk factors most consistently linked to fatigue, job demand and work stress occupy a central position. In the Nigerian context, the rapid expansion of rail infrastructure typified by the inauguration of the Warri-Itakpe Train Service (WITS) in 2020 has introduced a burgeoning workforce into an operationally demanding environment where the management of psychosocial risks remains nascent. Railway workers face heavy and irregular workloads, shift schedules, vigilance-intensive tasks, and limited job control, all of which collectively elevate the risk of occupational fatigue and its attendant consequences for productivity and rail safety. This study investigated the relationship between job demand, work stress, and occupational fatigue among railway workers in the Warri-Itakpe Train Service of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), while contextualising these associations within the broader spectrum of psychosocial health risk factors. A quantitative, cross-sectional survey design was employed. Using Slovin's formula at a 5% margin of error, a sample of 305 railway workers was recruited from 12 stations within the Warri-Itakpe Train Service using multi-stage sampling. Data were collected with the Smith Wellbeing Survey (SWELL), a validated 27-item instrument grounded in the Wellbeing Process Questionnaire (WPQ). The Demands, Resources, and Individual Effects (DRIVE) model guided conceptual framing. Statistical analyses included weighted averages, relative risk (RR), absolute risk (AR), Pearson's correlation, Chi-square tests, and logistic regression, all executed in SPSS Version 25.0. Job demand and work stress were the two strongest psychosocial predictors of occupational fatigue across the entire study population. Job demand recorded the highest relative risk of all 15 health risk factors assessed (RR = 7.71; AR = 89%; r = 0.81, p < 0.01; R² = 0.66), while work stress followed closely (RR = 5.22; AR = 84%; r = 0.73, p < 0.01; R² = 0.53). Chi-square analysis confirmed statistically significant associations for job demand (χ² = 29.754, p < 0.001) and work stress (χ² = 12.985, p < 0.001) with occupational fatigue. Stratified analysis by job type revealed that engineers bore the highest job demand risk (RR = 24.00; AR = 96%) while train drivers recorded the most severe work stress risk (RR = 12.00; AR = 92%). Job demand and work stress are predominant psychosocial determinants of occupational fatigue among Nigerian railway workers. The findings underscore an urgent need for the Nigerian Railway Corporation to restructure workloads, enforce fatigue-risk management policies, expand staffing, and institutionalise psychosocial support mechanisms. Failure to address these factors threatens both worker well-being and the operational safety of Nigeria's growing rail network.