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Work Stress - Workplace Stress

People experience stress in many parts of their lives. Although stress is an essential element of many activities at work and at home, stress becomes harmful when it reaches an intensity that begins to impair daily activities.

The costs of workplace stress remain high. Stress that arises from work activities is a contributor to such costly problems as low business productivity, occupational injuries and illnesses, absenteeism, poor employee morale, and high health care expenditures.

What Can Be Done About Workplace Stress? There are many ways to reduce the level of workplace stress. Implementing successful workplace stress-management measures depends on:

• Valuing your employees’ well-being while they are at work,
• Being flexible when tackling any workplace stress problem, and
• Creating and maintaining open lines of communication between you and your employees.

By fostering two-way conversations with your employees about stress issues, employers can encourage employees to suggest solutions to the problems they experience on the job. Your employees’ knowledge of the workplace should be considered in evaluating any suggested solution to workplace stress problems.

Just as workplace activities can produce stress in an employee’s life, personal factors can do the same, because an employee’s personal stress can magnify the effect of harmful workplace stress. It is difficult to say where one ends and the other begins.

Employees must take responsibility for reducing harmful stress that arises from their personal lives.

How Can Employers Take “AIM” at Managing Workplace Stress? OSHA recommends that employers consider using the following three-step approach to managing workplace stress:

Assess whether your workplace has jobs, environmental conditions, or organizational practices that contribute to harmful workplace stress.

Implement stress-management measures that you and your employees believe will be effective in your workplace. Monitor your progress and implement adjustments as appropriate.

Begin the assessment of the “stress profile” of your workplace by reviewing your business records. As you conduct this review, consider the questions in the Records Review Checklist or develop your own customized checklist.

Records Review Checklist A “yes” answer to any of the following questions does not necessarily indicate that you have a workplace stress problem, but it does suggest that the situation warrants further investigation:

Has your workplace recently experienced an increased number of stress-related workers’ compensation claims?

Does your OSHA Log 200 contain workplace injury and illness entries that refer to stress?

Have you had any employee complaints or grievances in which stress was listed as a contributing factor?

Have you had any customer complaints describing your employees as “irritable” or “stressed”?

Have there been recorded incidents of verbal or physical conflict among any of your employees?

Have you noticed an increase in absenteeism associated with the filing of stress claims?

Do you have unusually high employee turnover rates that could be related to workplace stress?

The next step is to assess the situation in more detail. Learn about job characteristics, uncomfortable or unsafe aspects of the work environment, and current organizational practices that may contribute to workplace stress. The best way to do this is to perform an inventory.

Organizational Practices
Participation Value your employees’ contributions to the workplace. Provide them with ways to participate directly in evaluating and possibly reorganizing the ways in which their jobs are performed. Train your managers and supervisors to be effective communicators, coaches, and facilitators.

Communication Keep channels of communication open between supervisors and their employees, and encourage employees to discuss their concerns with their supervisors. Make sure your supervisors don’t sweep stress problems “under the rug”, so that you only hear about them when they have become almost unmanageable! Convey to employees that you understand every human being has limitations, each person should be aware of his or her limitations, and each person should alert the appropriate supervisor when those boundaries are approached. Ask for employees’ opinions when job changes are planned. Before job changes are made permanent, review the job-related effects of the changes with employees. Avoid the shock of reorganization; give employees time to adjust to major changes in the work routine. Encourage anonymous feedback by means of a suggestion box or a toll-free telephone number.

Recognition Train supervisors to recognize employee achievement and reward positive employee performance. Consider holding employee recognition events and granting “perks” for special performance (e.g., an “Employee of the Month” award).

Work Environment Risk of Workplace Violence Develop a workplace violence-prevention plan if there are security risks present in your workplace. Use OSHA’s Model Injury and Illness Prevention Program for Workplace Security as a guide.

Opportunities for Skill Development and Advancement Encourage and support your employees efforts to pursue education and skill development. Offer your employees the opportunity to participate in job training activities that are designed to improve the employees’ skills.

Unclear or Conflicting Expectations Ensure that employees are fully informed about specific duties or tasks. Define the lines of authority in your organization and encourage employee participation. If an employee reports to more than one supervisor, consider simplifying the supervisory relationship. Give appropriate training to supervisors in being aware of the challenges and problems faced by employees who report to more than one supervisor.

Favoritism Be consistent in issuing assignments and have clear policies about hiring, promotions, and disciplinary actions. Offer benefits and privileges equally to all employees.

Verbal, Sexual, or Other Types of Harassment Make sure your employees know that you do not tolerate any type of harassing behavior in the workplace. Educate all employees about the consequences of such behavior for them and the organization. Make sure your employees are aware of their legal rights and what steps the organization will take to address harassment situations.

Effects of Downsizing and Job Insecurity Since uncertainty is stressful for everyone, promptly provide employees with information about the timing, scope, and reasons for downsizing. During uncertain economic times for the business, consider providing all employees with a stress-management workshop.

Although the boundary between workplace and personal stress can be difficult to pinpoint, workplace stress can aggravate personal stress and vice versa. Factors outside of your workplace can cause stress for your employees and adversely affect their ability to do their jobs. Personal problems involving family, child care, or health matters can intensify an employee’s perception of workplace stress. Caring about and taking steps to improve your employees’ overall well-being can help to reduce the stress level in your workplace.

Stress may be caused or exacerbated by personal factors such as:
Financial worries
Housing problems
Family or health problems
Illness or loss of a loved one
Spousal separation or divorce
Worries about the future
Child care problems