Training Seminar Provider: Short Course, Workshop, Public Training and In-house Training: Managing Stress in the Workplace

OVERVIEW

Job stress is a widespread concern across all occupational levels, and is a commonly reported cause of occupational illness and associated organizational outcomes (e.g., lost work days, turnover, workers’ compensation claims). Stress-related problems are the second most commonly reported cause of occupational illness, following musculoskeletal complaints. Roughly one fourth of workers reported job stress as affecting their health, and others reported having experienced other adverse psychosocial hazards in the previous year, including bullying, unwanted sexual attention, and acts of violence from people at work or from other people. Further, there is evidence that job strain, the combination of high job demands with low job control and the most widely studied job stressor, has been increasing in prevalence over the last decade. Job stress and other psychosocial hazards, affecting the full range of occupational levels, are widely prevalent and represent a growing concern. Workplace stress is the harmful physical or emotional reaction that happens when your abilities, resources or needs do not match your workplace situation. Anything that causes stress is known as a ‘stressor’. Stress can develop in anyone – workers, employers, managers, supervisors – in any workplace, if there are unrelieved and intense pressures. Stress can affect health and safety in the workplace thru increasing accidents or injuries, absenteeism, worker turnover, reducing productivity, and increasing workers medical and compensation costs

OBJECTIVES

The specific objectives of this course were to:

Understand the key causes, impacts and predictors of work-related job stress.
Identify prevention/injury management themes and guiding principles in relation to work-related job stress.

COURSE PROGRAMMED

WHAT IS WORK-RELATED STRESS??

Based on WHO definition, Work-related stress is a pattern of reactions that occurs when workers are presented with work demands not matched to their knowledge, skills or abilities and which challenge their ability to cope. When there is a perceived imbalance between demands and environmental or personal resources, reactions may include physiological responses, emotional responses, cognitive responses, and behavioural reactions.

THE EFFECTS OF STRESS ON HEALTH

Unhealthy levels of stress lead to a variety of disorders and illness. These include a broad band of pathological consequences, ranging from chronic fatigue to depression, and including insomnia, anxiety, migraine, emotional upsets, allergies and abuse of tobacco and alcohol. In the longer term, stress can contribute to hypertension, and as a consequence to the development of heart and cerebrovascular disease, as well as to peptic ulcers, inflammatory bowel diseases and musculoskeletal problems. It may also alter immune functions, which may in turn facilitate the development of cancer. Taken together, these disorders are responsible for the great majority of disease, death, disability and medical care use in most industrialized countries.

WHO IS AFFECTED BY STRESS?

All of us are affected at one time or another by work-related stress. Although occupational stress is by no means a new phenomenon, it is becoming increasingly globalized and affects all countries, all professions and all categories of workers, including both blue and white-collar workers, as well as families and society in general. While stress at work is most frequently considered in the context of the industrialized countries, workers in developing countries are also undoubtedly affected. The evidence also indicates that a broad and growing range of occupations are prone to work-related stress.

THE COSTS OF STRESS

Because stress is so widespread, it has a very high cost for individuals, companies and organizations, and for society. For the individual, in addition to the devastating impact of the serious health impairments referred to above, the loss of capacity to cope with working and social situations can lead to less success at work, including loss of career opportunities and even employment. It can give rise to greater strain in family relationships and with friends. It may even ultimately result in depression, death or suicide. For the company or organization, the costs of stress take many forms. These include absenteeism, higher medical costs and staff turnover, with the associated cost of recruiting and training new workers. It has also been shown in recent years that stress takes a heavy toll in terms of reduced productivity and efficiency.

THE ROLE OF AN EMPLOYER.

According to the WHO, “all workers have the right to healthy and safe work and to a work environment that enables them to live a socially and economically productive life” (WHO, 1994). The sufficient measures are taken to protect the health and safety of workers will prove to be beneficial to the workers as well as to the company. Therefore, employers must be aware and be able to prevent, or at least recognise signs of work-related stress in workers. Employers and workers are best equipped to manage work-related stress by changing its structural causes in the company or network. The role of the workers and their representatives should be to warn the company management when, or ideally before, work-related stress becomes a problem.

EMPLOYEE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (EAP)

Employee assistance program is a confidential, short term, counseling service for employees with personal problems that affect their work performance. EAPs grew out of industrial alcoholism programs of the 1940's. EAPs should be part of a larger company plan to promote wellness that involves written policies, supervisor and employee training.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND

Courses are aimed at managers, safety specialists and all those who concerned with the safe and efficient performance of controlling of potentially hazardous in the workplace, such as HRD Manager, HSE Officer, Doctor and Occupational Health Nurse, General Services, Supervisor and workers, and any other who interest.

Managing Stress in the Workplace