Health and safety at work in the transport industry (TRANS-18): factorial structure, reliability and validity

In this article, we study the psychometric properties of a short scale (TRANS-18) which was designed to detect safe behaviors (personal and vehicle-related) and psychophysiological disorders. 244 drivers participated in the study, including drivers of freight transport vehicles (regular, dangerous and special), cranes, and passenger transport (regular transport and chartered coaches), ambulances and taxis. After carrying out an exploratory factor analysis of the scale, the findings show a structure comprised of three factors related to psychophysiological disorders, and to both personal and vehicle-related safety behaviors. Furthermore, these three factors had adequate reliability and all three also showed validity with regard to burnout, fatigue and job tension. In short, this scale may be ideally suited for adequately identifying the safety behaviors and safety problems of transport drivers. Future research could use the TRANS-18 as a screening tool in combination with other instruments.