About Occupational Stress

With many workplaces downsizing, expecting fewer employers to do more work, the problem of occupational stress is becoming a significant health hazard. Besides spending long hours in an office, workers also bring home their work. Today's world of technology is a mixed blessing. Although it's easier than ever to work anywhere with laptops and cell phones, it's also easier to become more stressed because there's no clear dividing line between office and home life.

Size

• The magnitude of the problem is huge, with more than half of all workers (about 70 to 90 percent) feeling stressed at work, according to a recent survey. Occupational stress affects a wide range of professions, from top corporate executives to service workers in cafeterias. Almost half of all employees who suffer are in fields of technical, sales and administration support, with about 16 percent suffering in professional and managerial occupations.

Identification

• When workers perceive that job demands are greater than their potential to meet them, they can easily fall prey to occupational stress. Because of an overload of work or feelings of inadequacy, workers can become stressed to the point of endangering both their physical and mental health. Before even identifying the signs that they may be over-stressed from their jobs, workers should strive to prevent the problem in the first place or or control it before it becomes too overwhelming.

Effects

• Physical effects can result in health problems ranging from high blood pressure, heart attacks, strokes, diabetes, muscle aches to weak immune systems. As for mental health, occupational stress can cause burnout, depression, domestic violence and even suicide. Besides the toll on individual workers, occupational stress affects companies due to absentees because workers are sick more than usual. In other words, the problem of occupational stress not only affects workers, but the entire workplace.

Types

• Not all occupational stress is bad. In fact, in some cases stress on the job can be beneficial. If the workers feel they have support, as well as the abilities and resources to perform, stress can lead to self confidence, empowering them to tackle more challenges. On the other hand, if an employee is preparing for a presentation and he doesn't feel stressed enough to even prepare, this can be just as bad as if he were overstressed. In this situation, the stress could have worked in his behalf as he would have been forced to prepare, resulting in a good performance. In other words, sometimes you need a middle ground of stress to prepare and do your best, rather than be too passive.

Prevention/Solution

• Employees can help themselves to prevent occupational stress by staying balanced, not letting the cares of work interfere with their personal lives. They can also take practical steps such as eating three healthy, balanced meals a day, exercising and taking time to connect with friends and family, as well as rest. What's more, they can voice their concerns to their bosses, realizing that stuffing your feelings only adds to more stress.
  Employers can help their employees by coordinating job assignments with the skills of workers, making sure they've assigned the right job to the right person who's qualified to meet the demands of the job description. They can also meet regularly with their workers to address needs and concerns. Employers can adjust shifts. Often workers become stressed because they're working a shift that doesn't agree with them. Sometimes just by exchanging a night shift for a day shift, stress can be lifted, while others do better working at night because they don't have to deal with the public or as many other workers.