Golmohammadi Rostam, Motlagh Masoud Shafiee, Aliabadi Mohsen, Faradmal Javad, Ranjbar Akram
Center of Excellence for Occupational Health, Research Center for Health Sciences, School of Public Health, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran.
Center of Excellence for Occupational Health, Occupational Health and Safety Research Center, School of Public Health, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran.
Work. 2023;76(2):623-636. doi: 10.3233/WOR-220502.
Acoustic comfort is one of the most critical challenges in the open-plan workspace.
This study was aimed to assess the effect of irrelevant background speech (IBS) and mental workload (MWL) on staffs' physiological parameters in open-plan bank office workspaces.
In this study, 109 male cashier staff of the banks were randomly selected. The 30-minute equivalent noise level (LAeq) of the participants was measured in three intervals at the beginning (section A), middle (section B), and end of working hours (section C). The heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV): low frequency (LF), high frequency (HF), and LF/HF of the staff were also recorded in sections A, B, and C. Moreover, staff was asked to rate the MWL using the NASA-Task load.
The dominant frequency of the LAeq was 500 Hz, and the LAeq in the frequency range of 250 to 2000 was higher than other frequencies. The LAeq (500 Hz) was 55.82, 69.35, and 69.64 dB(A) in sections A, B, and C, respectively. The results show that the IBS affects staffs' physiological responses so that with increasing in IBS, the HF power decreases. Moreover, with higher MWL, increasing noise exposure, especially IBS, causes more increases in LF power and LF/HF ratio.
It seems that the IBS can affect physiological responses and increase staff stress in open-plan bank office workspaces. Moreover, the mental workload can intensify these consequences in these working settings.
声学舒适度是开放式办公空间中最关键的挑战之一。
本研究旨在评估无关背景语音（IBS）和心理负荷（MWL）对银行开放式办公空间员工生理参数的影响。
本研究随机选取了109名银行男性出纳员。在工作时间开始时（A段）、中间（B段）和结束时（C段）分三个时间段测量参与者的30分钟等效连续A声级（LAeq）。还在A、B、C三段记录员工的心率（HR）和心率变异性（HRV）：低频（LF）、高频（HF）和LF/HF。此外，要求员工使用美国国家航空航天局任务负荷量表对心理负荷进行评分。
LAeq的主频为500赫兹，250至2000赫兹频率范围内的LAeq高于其他频率。A、B、C三段的LAeq（500赫兹）分别为55.82、69.35和69.64分贝（A）。结果表明，IBS会影响员工的生理反应，随着IBS增加，HF功率降低。此外，心理负荷越高，噪声暴露增加，尤其是IBS，会导致LF功率和LF/HF比值增加更多。
在银行开放式办公空间中，IBS似乎会影响生理反应并增加员工压力。此外，心理负荷会在这些工作环境中加剧这些影响。
