 |
 |
|
Return to main page on
Violence and stress at work
Postal services:
Sector-specific information on violence and stress
Scope and impact of violence and stress
Postal workers have been identified as a “high risk”
occupation for exposure to violence and stress. Indeed, in the United States the
term “going postal” has become synonymous with severe acts of workplace
violence such as homicide. However, less severe and therefore sometimes more inconspicuous
acts of violence, such as threats and psychological abuse, occur far more frequently.
The nature of postal work means that employees face the risk
of violence and stress emanating from outside the work environment. This was demonstrated
recently in the bio-terrorism/anthrax cases in the United States, where emergency
precautions were taken in response to the threat. These events highlight the omnipresent
dangers postal workers face while processing mass volumes of mail, and the need
to remain particularly vigilant to suspect devices such as bombs and incendiary
devices. Postal workers also face aggression from the public, dangers associated
with handling valuables, as well as heightened stress due to organizational reforms
and the impact of mergers and acquisitions, globalization, new technology, new
work practices, business performance and the like. These factors have strained
relationships between managers, employees and workers’ organizations, have
given rise to job insecurity, dissatisfaction and conflict among the workforce,
and can lead to workers feeling unable to cope with the demands of work and allowing
tensions to intensify.
According to a stress survey carried out by the Communication
Workers’ Union in the United Kingdom in 2001, the leading causes of stress
were as follows: Bad management 44%, Excessive workload 42%; Staff shortages 20%;
Job insecurity 17%; Monotonous work 16%; Long hours 13%; Bullying 11%; Lack of
control over work 11%. Stress is high among workers who experience regular acts
of violence, or threats of violence. In particular, younger workers and workers
on fixed term contracts report violence as a major cause of stress in the workplace;
24 % perceive work-related stress as a main health and safety concern, 84% feel
more stressed now than they did five years ago. From a sample of postal workers,
14% saw the threat of violence as bad or very bad.
In a nationwide study on workplace bullying in the United
Kingdom in 2002, the highest incidence rates were reported in the postal/telecommunications
sector, with 16% of the sample reporting that they had been bullied regularly
and 27% in the past five years (as compared to a population norm of 14.6%). Managers
were identified as the perpetrators in 79.1% of reported bullying incidents and
colleagues were perpetrators in 37.2% of them (as there can be more than one perpetrator,
the total does not equal 100).
The prevalence of sexual harassment and the level of under-reporting
is evident from a regional survey of women postal workers in Italy, in which 20%
of the respondents stated that they had rejected sexual advances from their supervisors
and colleagues. Although 45% reported being victims of sexual harassment or had
witnessed such an event occurring among work colleagues, only 0.5% took any further
action by filing a complaint.
Causes of workplace violence and stress
Intense technological progress and moves towards globalization,
along with organizational change and substantial efforts nationally, regionally
and globally to regulate postal services, have left former postal monopolies facing
competition for the first time and being forced to consider diversification. These
sudden changes in certain circumstances have caused deteriorating industrial relations,
with conflict often arising as a result of new management initiatives, and workers
feeling a sense of injustice and betrayal. Further, work-related stress is usually
associated with jobs that are highly demanding and simultaneously allow little
control; many areas of postal work correspond to this model, whereby individuals
have heavy workloads but little autonomy in completing their assigned tasks.
Additional information
|
