What is workplace stress? |
| [ Stress at workplace ] |
While stress is readily acknowledged to be a common feature of modern life, defining stress, its causes, symptoms and effects is a very complex matter. It is often characterized as a primitive stone-age reaction to modern organizational and social factors, known as stressors.
Some definitions of stressHere are some recent definitions of work-related stress:
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Read on for a rapid overview of the symptoms, costs and effects of occupational stress. For a fuller background to stress, see the Introduction to the preparation of manuals on occupational stress and the Conditions of work digest: Preventing stress at work.
Under normal circumstances, people should be able to find new balances and responses in their reactions to new situations. Stress is not necessarily a negative phenomenon and it would therefore be a mistake to concentrate only on its pathological effects. A moderate level of stress can be an important motivational factor and can be instrumental in achieving a dynamic adaptation to new situations.
If health is considered as a dynamic equilibrium, stress is part of it. There is no health without interaction with other people and with the environment. Only excesses of stress are pathological.
Some stress is therefore normal and necessary, at work and outside it. But if stress is intense, continuous or repeated, if a person is unable to cope, or if support is lacking, stress then becomes a negative phenomenon which can lead to physical illness and psychological disorders. In a work context, it often results in inadequate adaptation to situations and people and failure to perform at an optimal level.
The age-old, genetically determined reaction of human beings to threats or pressure has the primary objective of preparing them for intense physical activity of the fight or flight type. This involves a quickening of the heartbeat and breathing rhythm and the diversion of more blood to the muscles than to other organs. The release of adrenaline and noradrenaline raises levels of glucose and free fatty acids in the blood stream to provide greater energy.
These in-built reactions are no longer adapted to the types of pressure faced by most people in their working and family lives. As a consequence, 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.
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 following table lists those occupations which equal or exceed the rate of 6 on a stress rating scale of 0 to 10 elaborated by the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology.
| Occupations with high stress levels | |
|---|---|
| Occupation | Rating scale |
| Miner | 8.3 |
| Police officer | 7.7 |
| Prison officer | 7.5 |
| Construction worker | 7.5 |
| Airline pilot | 7.5 |
| Journalist | 7.5 |
| Advertising executive | 7.3 |
| Dentist | 7.3 |
| Actor | 7.2 |
| Doctor | 6.8 |
| Broadcasting personnel | 6.8 |
| Nurse | 6.5 |
| Film production crew | 6.5 |
| Ambulance personnel | 6.3 |
| Musician | 6.3 |
| Firefighter | 6.3 |
| Teacher | 6.2 |
| Social worker | 6.0 |
| Personnel manager | 6.0 |
For more information on some sectors and occupations which are particularly vulnerable to work-related stress, go to the sections on air traffic controllers, assembly line workers, bus drivers, workers in the offshore oil and gas industry and nurses. You may wish to consult the collection of International Hazard Datasheets on Occupation as well.
Other factors also affect vulnerability to stress. These may include age (adolescents and older workers often cope less well with stressful situations), gender, disability and the fact of working and living in harsh socio-economic conditions without social support. A combination of stress-inducing factors at work and outside the workplace is often responsible for bringing individuals closer to the point where they can no longer cope efficiently with work-related stress. One particularly common combination is the interaction between work and family life.
Countless surveys have confirmed the importance of family responsibilities in raising the stress level with which individuals have to contend. This is particularly true in families in which both parents work, as well as in single-parent families.
A number of factors make it difficult to achieve a harmonious balance between work and family life. These include abrupt changes in work schedules, time-pressured work, unsympathetic treatment by management and co-workers, and lack of control over the content and organization of work. Shift work and irregular working hours are particularly difficult to reconcile with family routines and events. Home workers and teleworkers [for an analysis of techno-stress in teleworking see "The High Road to Teleworking" by V. Di Martino] often find it difficult to adapt their work to the requirements of their family life. Various studies have also found that the faster the pace of work and the more an individual is involved in her or his work, the greater the conflict between working and family roles.
The issues raised by the reconciliation of work and family life are addressed by the ILO’s Workers with Family Responsibilities Convention (No. 156) and Recommendation (No. 165), 1981. The Convention, which had been ratified by 31 countries as of 30 June 2000, calls for measures to be adopted which take into account the needs of workers with family responsibilities in their terms and conditions of employment and in social security. The Recommendation also covers a number of areas in which measures can be taken to facilitate the lives, and therefore reduce the levels of stress encountered by workers with family responsibilities. These include:
The relationship between gender, work and stress is complex. Several factors appear to magnify the impact of stress on women, chief among them being the preponderant role that women still play in the provision of family care. It is well-established that the total workload of women who are employed full-time is higher than that of full-time male workers, particularly where they have family responsibilities.
Research carried out in Sweden found that the total workload of women employed full time is much higher than that of men employed full time, and that the total workload for women employed part time is as much as that of men employed full time. Sweden is a country in which 86 per cent of women are in the workforce, but the division of labour between spouses at home has remained much the same. Total workload of women and men as related
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In addition to their family responsibilities, other factors also tend to make women more vulnerable to work-related stress. These include:
In a survey carried out in 1992 of nearly 1,300 full-time employees in a random sample of private companies in the United States, it was found that gender, among other factors (the level of the employee in the organization, income, occupation and family situation), accounted for differences in job stress at the workplace. The survey found that stress affects women more than men, and that they are significantly more likely to report burnout, stress-related illnesses or a desire to resign from their jobs. The researchers suggested several reasons for this. In the first place, women are often paid less than men for their work, even if they have college degrees. Many organizations also lack policies which respond to family issues. Single women with children, along with low-paid college graduates, are at highest risk of burnout. Some 50 per cent of single women with children reported burnout, compared to 31 per cent of married women with children. [Employee burnout: Causes and cures, Part 1: Employee stress levels,
Northwestern National Life Insurance, Minneapolis, 1992, as reported in Work in America, Vol. 17, No. 6, June 1992.] |
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 following are recent estimates which related to the cost of work-related stress:
These figures are cited in Research on work-related stress, European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, 2000. |
See also a comprehensive review in the subject.
Several recent studies have highlighted the links between work-related stress, violence at work, the abuse of drugs and alcohol and tobacco consumption. These studies tend to suggest that stress at work plays an important role in the development of negative individual and organizational factors and forms a common element linking working conditions, substance abuse and violent acts. There appears to be a significant correlation between difficulties in relaxing after work and negative emotions such as fear, helplessness and failure. Stressful work may contribute to the development of a desire among workers to reduce tension by drinking, using drugs and other harmful substances.
Alienating work has negative consequences for the development of a healthy human personality and can result in a range of problematic behaviours at the individual level, which may include the destructive use of alcohol and other substances, as well as depression and a deterioration in normal affective life. Stressful conditions may also constitute an antecedent to an episode of workplace violence.
The ILO has recently commissioned a review of literature documenting the links between work-related stress, violence at work, drug and alcohol abuse and tobacco consumption. This review is presented in the form of a Bibliography on the links between stress, violence, drug abuse, alcohol and tobacco in the workplace, compiled by Daniele Armand Ugon.
If you are interested in these related issues, please check out our web pages on violence at work, drug and alcohol abuse and tobacco consumption.
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