Translation and Validation of the Job Factor Questionnaire (JFQ) and Quick Exposure Check (QEC) into Malay Language for Small and Medium Food Manufacturing Industries (SME)

Reliable assessment of ergonomic and job-related risk factors requires tools that are linguistically, culturally, and contextually appropriate. This study translated, culturally adapted, and preliminarily evaluated Malay versions of the Job Factor Questionnaire (JFQ) and Quick Exposure Check (QEC) among workers in Malaysian food manufacturing small- and medium-sized enterprises. The process included forward and backward translation, expert review, face validation, pilot testing, and psychometric evaluation. The instruments were administered to 151 employees from participating enterprises. Item-level content validity indices were at least 0.80, internal consistency was acceptable (Cronbach's alpha = 0.835), and test–retest reliability showed good agreement for the JFQ (intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) = 0.861) and QEC (ICC = 0.800). In the recruited sample, production workers had higher observed JFQ and QEC scores than office workers, consistent with anticipated exposure differences. These findings provide preliminary support for the reliability and utility of the Malay JFQ and QEC in food manufacturing small- and medium-sized enterprises.