Published Paper Details:

The Indian Railways, known for its extensive network, transports millions of passengers daily, emphasizing importance of passenger safety (Martis & Daniel, 2023). Loco pilots play a crucial role in ensuring the safe and timely operation of trains, facing long hours, irregular schedules, and heavy workloads that contribute to occupational stress. This study focuses on loco pilots' perceptions of occupational stress, job satisfaction, and their well-being, gaining an understanding of the causes, symptoms, challenges, and coping strategies associated with occupational stress. The objectives of the present study were: 1) To ascertain from loco pilots (both male and female) their: (a) perception of their wellbeing (b) meaning of the term occupational stress (c) causes of occupational stress at workplace (d) emotional symptoms of occupational stress; 2) To elicit from loco pilots (both male and female) the occupational stress related challenges or difficulties faced by them: (a) in maintaining family relationships (b) while operating locomotive; 3) To identify from loco pilots (both male and female): (a) actions that a loco pilot or individual should take in order to minimize or avoid occupational stress at the workplace (b) the respondent's perception of action taken by Railways to reduce or avoid occupational stress at workplace (c) factors influencing job satisfaction at workplace; 4) To develop guidelines to promote the wellbeing of loco pilots based on the review of literature and the data obtained from the objectives. Descriptive method of research design was used. The total sample consisted of 65 loco pilots. When asked about the meaning of the term "occupational stress" as loco pilots working in Indian Railways, a large majority of them mentioned it as a heavy responsibility for operating the train (78%), while little more than half of them mentioned poor employment conditions (55%). Regarding actions Railways should take to reduce occupational stress, majority of loco pilots reported regular assessment of workload distribution (61%), while little more than half suggested granting approval for leave requests (54%). Additionally, little less than half mentioned conducting regular stress management workshops (48%). Little more than one third of the loco pilots reported having sightly low wellbeing (35%) while little more than quarter reported moderate (32%). However, only a few of the loco pilots reported high wellbeing (11%). This study therefore provides us with the wellbeing and job satisfaction of loco pilots working for Indian Railways and contributes by providing guidelines to promote the wellbeing of loco pilots