Personal health and organizational support as reported by different occupations in small manufacturing businesses

We examined characteristics of employees in six occupational categories:  managers, production managers, production workers, support staff, research and development/engineers, and sales in under-studied small, manufacturing businesses (20-150 employees). We analyzed survey data from 47 businesses (n=2577 employees; 86% response rate) and examined the relationship of job type to socio-demographic characteristics, personal health variables, and perceptions of organizational support. Analyses were adjusted for age and sex, and included company as a random effect. Smoking rates were highest for production workers (33%), production managers (27%), and support staff (28%) and lowest for managers (12%) (p=.0002). Job strain was higher for production workers and support staff than managers (p=<0.0001). A higher percentage of production workers consistently rated organizational support variables less positively than managers; importantly, they rated safety climate lower than any other job category (p=<0.0001). The differences in characteristics by occupation among employees in these manufacturing settings call for a comprehensive, integrated intervention model that targets lower occupational classes, leverages the influence of production managers, enhances organizational support for health, and incorporates strategies that are customized by occupation.