Occupational Stress

A term commonly used in the professional business industry, occupational

stress refers to the ongoing or progressing stress an employee experiences
due to the responsibilities, conditions, environment, or other pressures of the
workplace. There are several types of occupational stress, depending on the
individual employee, their job role, the company culture, and more.

Occupational stress is treated as a state of tension which occurs when a

person senses a disagreement between the working environment challenges
and their possibilities of coping.

Major causes of occupational stress

While the sources of occupational stress can vary from person to person, it’s
important to know that employees of all organizations—regardless of how big
or how small they may be—can be affected by occupational stress. Some
major examples of occupational stressors include:
 Strict policies and protocols implemented by the organization

 Restricted possibilities for professional and personal self-growth

 Conflicts among individuals in a department or between organizational

groups

 Workforce micromanagement and mismanagement

 Lack of support from human resource departments

 Personal, situational, or professional issues

 Bullying, belittling, and discriminating

 Poor time management

 Little to no occupational guidance or direction

 Being overworked

 Performance expectations that far surpass an employee’s training and

abilities

 Regular threats of termination

 Loss of wages, pay cuts, and benefits

No matter what the cause may be, the effects of occupational stress can be
monumentally damaging to the overall well-being and productivity of the
employee. Not only can occupational stress cause accelerated aging and
other personal issues, but it can also greatly hamper an employee’s
motivation, inspiration, and dedication to their work

Occupational health stress at work

When it comes to understanding what work-related stress is, it’s critical to first
be able to identify the signs of stress in the workplace. The most common
symptoms of occupational stress include:
 Lacking the motivation to complete basic job requirements

 Missing deadlines

 Frequent feelings of general stress, chaos, and confusion

 Feelings of inferiority to coworkers

 Anxiety and abnormally high blood pressure

 Noticeable changes in diet

 Increased sleeplessness and irritability

 Abnormal feelings of depression, hopelessness, helplessness, dejection,

and failure

 Excessive perspiration and heart palpitations

 Inability to perform or communicate in a productive manner

 Feelings of excessive burnout

Employees suffering from occupational stress generally exhibit signs of a

stress response. There are three stages of the stress response which can be
used to identify if an individual is, in fact, struggling with occupational stress.
Stage 1: Alarm. Physical, emotional, or mental stress, triggers the “alarm”
response which is the body’s physical “fight or flight” response. This acts as
an alarm to the physical and mental system, sending a surge of adrenaline to
all parts of the body. In the sense of general life stress, this stage is often
short-lived. However, with occupational stress, this stage can be long-term,
which triggers stage 2.
Stage 2: Resistance. After a prolonged surge of adrenaline, the body tries to
regain balance by boosting chemicals in the brain like melatonin which
counteract and calm the alarm system. However, with prolonged stress, the
first stage of alarm overpowers the resistance stage which begins a toxic
cycle and can cause sleep deprivation, fatigue, irritability, and concentration
issues.
Stage 3: Exhaustion. After battling a cycle between Stage 1 and Stage 2, the
body simply succumbs to the unending stress and completely shuts down.
Once the body’s mental and physical defense systems are inhibited, it can
quickly fall victim to illness and infection.
Many people who suffer from untreated prolonged occupational stress present
a variety of health concerns like viral and bacterial infections, increased
hormone levels, excessive internal damage, and severe skin conditions. For
these reasons alone, treating occupational stress is critical.

Coping with occupational stress

There are several ways employees can treat, cope with, and ward off
occupational success. By maintaining a diligent, reasonable work pace,
employees can prevent procrastination and consistently finish the tasks they
begin. Additionally, employees should place importance on things like
punctuality, regularity, time management, honesty, diligence, and discipline,
as these characteristics help promote a positive, professional attitude that’s
often recognized and rewarded by upper management personnel.

HR departments, on the other hand, can do their part in preventing

occupational stress among staff members by encouraging a positive,
proactive workplace environment. Quickly extinguishing bullying,
discrimination, and harassing behaviors is vital, as is promoting an open-door
policy in which individuals feel safe and comfortable reporting such behavior.
More than anything, however, by implementing activities, initiatives, and
tactics that keep employees feeling supported, motivated, and comfortable,
HR departments can play a major role in keeping occupational stress levels to
a minimum.

Occupational Stress Consequences

The following health disorders in humans are associated with occupational stress:
 cardiovascular diseases;
 anxiety disorders, depression, post-traumatic stress syndrome;
 gastric ulcers;
 metabolism disorders;
 skeletal and muscular complaints.

The following problems related to the high stress level occur in the organization:
 low creativity, work ability and commitment of employees;
 high level of incapability to work;
 great staff turnover;
 increased risk of occupational accidents;
 quality problems that generate costs emanating from the dissatisfaction of customers.

Occupational stress more broadly also influences the society:

 an employee in stress could take it out on their family and co-citizens, increasing the aggressiveness
in society;
 the society’s productiveness suffers;
 the national health insurance system must bear the majority of costs related to the occupational
stress;
 if the employee is not capable to return to work due to stress, the pension system bears costs.

Prevention of the Occupational Stress

Working conditions preventing the occupational stress and burnout offer:

 feasible workload, freedom of choice and a sense of being in control;
 recognition and remuneration;
 a sense of community;
 justice, respect and legitimacy;
 meaningful and appreciated work.
Job Controls and Job Demands

There are a number of working conditions that we encounter on a daily basis which contribute to
making work stressful. These working conditions are called “stressors” and consist of those
things which have a negative effect on a worker’s physical or emotional well-being. In addition
these working conditions or stressors are associated with two job characteristics: job control and
demand.

Job control determines how much or how little control a worker has over her/his job. It can be
defined in terms of one's ability to make decisions about how work is done and the ability to use
a range of skills on the job.

Job demand determines how much or how little production or productivity pressures there are
on the worker and the quality of the physical work environment.

Examples of job control stressors include:

 Lack of control over your work,

 Lack of recognition for work done,
 Job insecurity,
 Fear of layoffs,
 Harassment,
 Lack of respect from supervisors,
 Racism,
 Age discrimination,
 Inadequate pay,
 Isolation from fellow employees either physically or psychologically, and
 Lack of promotion opportunities.

Examples of job demand stressors include:

 Contracting out work,

 Fragmentation/job declassification,
 Poor ventilation and heating,
 Poor lighting,
 Forced overtime,
 Shift-work,
 Speed-ups,
 Conflicting job demands,
 Physical danger,
 Fear of accident or even death on the job,
 Poor computer workstation design,
 Monitoring (e.g., AWT standards),
 Lack of training, and
 Unnecessary paperwork.
  Conduct regular walkaround inspections,
 Investigate incidents that might be related to stress,
 Review health, absenteeism, and other available records,
 Assist other committees on problems related to stress,
 Train other committee members and stewards how to recognize stressful situations
and workers suffering from stress,
 Collect resource material related to stress for the union’s library,
 Review changes in work-practices and procedures for potential as stressors,
 Recommend changes that might reduce stress,
 Participate in training programs on job stress and job design,
 Document activities and events related to potential stressful situations,
 Hold educational sessions on job stress for membership,
 Form Local Union discussion groups,
 Include the issue of occupational stress in member assistance groups,
 Publish news articles on job stress in union publications,
 Develop stress-related materials for dissemination to members and new hires during
orientation sessions,
 Conduct on and off-the-job relaxation and physical conditioning programs,
 Become actively involved with personnel at research and academic institutions
developing and carrying out scientific studies on occupational stress, and
 Initiate and develop cooperative relations and activities with other unions.

The HSE management standards focus on the following workplace stressors.

 Demands – workload, work pattern and the work environment.
 Control – what influence the person has about the way they do their work.
 Support – encouragement, sponsorship and resources provided by the employer, line management and
colleagues.
 Relationships – promoting positive working to avoid conflict and dealing with unacceptable behaviour.
 Role – whether employees understand their role within the organisation and whether the organisation ensures
that the person does not have conflicting roles.
 Change – How organisational change (large or small) is managed and communicated in the organisation.
Indicators of Workplace Stress include:
 Emotional – fatigue, anxiety, poor motivation in general.
 Cognitive – making mistakes, having accidents.
 Behavioural – deteriorating relationships with colleagues, irritability, indecisiveness, absenteeism, excessive
smoking, excessive drinking, overeating, etc.
 Physiological – increased complaints regarding health such as headaches, dizziness and general aches and
pains.
You should have in place a formal stress policy and make sure that if and when stress-related complaints are
made they are treated seriously, investigated fully and appropriate action is taken.

Monitoring is required to ensure any remedial actions are working and continue to do so until the situation is
resolved. Stress cannot be ignored.

Carrying out an Occupational Stress Audit is one way of ensuring that your company is effectively
managing ill health from stress at work.