The Relationships among Job Stress Sources, Stress Coping Strategies and Stress Consequences for Airport Ramp Workers: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach

Ramp safety is a major issue in modern global aviation safety, and ramp workers play a key role in ramp operations. Compared to other staff directly associated with the operations of an aircraft, ramp workers usually have to work in harsh environments and under time pressure. The hardship of their work makes their occupation a high-stress job. This study investigated ramp workers in Taiwan, used scale questionnaires design based on literature reviews and expert interviews, and performed Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) analyses to determine the relationships among job stress sources, stress coping strategies and stress consequences of ramp workers. The research results showed that ramp workers’ job stress sources are positively correlated with stress coping strategies; job stress sources are positively correlated with stress consequences; and stress coping strategies are negatively correlated with stress consequences. It is hoped that the research results can serve as reference for competent aviation authorities, so that they will attach importance to the high risk operational situation of ramp workers, and for airline operators to engage in employee stress management in order to improve aviation safety and reduce ramp accidents caused by job stress.