ERGONOMICS-JOB STRESS INTERVENTION (ERGO-JSI) REDUCES STRESS OF EMPLOYEES AT NATIONAL BANK IN DENPASAR

Work stress may affect the quality of working life due to decrease of work ability, cognitive ability, and may also lead to risky behavior. The decrease in work stress could be reflected by the decrease in stressor, psychological distress and cortisol levels among employees. An ergonomic job stress intervention (Ergo-JSI) applied in this study has several advantages in regard to participatory ergonomics and individual orientation. The objective of this research is to analyze the decrease in job stress reflected by the decrease in stressor, psychological distress and cortisol levels among the employees of a National Bank in Denpasar, Bali, after the application of Ergo-JSI. This is an experimental study with treatment by subject design which was conducted from January to September 2011. Several dependent variables such as stressor and psychological distress were measured using the Indonesian version of Brief Job Stress Questionnaire (BJSQ), while the blood cortisol was measured using chemiluminescence technique. Totally 25 male employees of the Private National Bank in Denpasar 25 were used as the research subjects. They were randomly selected and their ages averaged 39. After the application of Ergo-JSI, a significant change (p < 0.05), that is, a 6.8% decrease in stressor and a 23.7% fall in cortisol were found. Apart from that, a significant change (p< 0.05), that is, a 28% decrease in psychological distress was also found.It could be concluded that the application of Ergo-JSI reduces job stress among the employees of the National Bank in Denpasar, Bali.