Psycho-Social Impact of the Disaster on Employees in Terms of Occupational Health and Safety: The Case of Turkey

Abstract

The earthquakes that occurred in Maras, Turkey, on February 6, 2023, with intensities of 7.7 MW and 7.6 MW, deeply affected the lives of millions of people in economic, social and psychological terms within a few seconds and caused loss of life. The aim of this study is to examine the moderator role of disaster preparedness plans in workplaces on the relationship between post-traumatic stress levels and depression, anxiety, stress levels of people who are directly or indirectly exposed to these earthquakes and have an active work life. The data was obtained from a total of 206 blue-collar employees who were actively working in a private company and were directly and indirectly exposed to the effects of the earthquake. In data collection, demographic information form, The Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) and Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) were used. According to the findings analyzed using structural equation modeling showed that having a disaster preparedness plan in workplaces weakens the strength of the relationship between post-traumatic stress level and depression, anxiety, stress levels.