Stresses in the Workplace and How to Combat Same

For the entrepreneur every precaution needs to be taken to protect his/her workers in vulnerable situations against stress.  Where incidents do occur, procedures should exist, including independent counseling where necessary, to minimise the long-term impact.   Most stress due to work is not acute.  Nevertheless, chronic exposure to stressful conditions may be more harmful to health in the long-term.  It may result in absenteeism, irritability or ill health or even work disability.  It usually arises because of the combination of the nature of the work, the way it is organised, and the general environment.  Low pay, insecurity, shift or night work are also factors which can contribute to stress.

Many entrepreneurs remain in the highest risk of stress category resulting in working longer hours on a continual basis simply to "keep up" - "wealth but no time for leisure" could well be their epitaph.  Occupational stress during the Celtic Tiger Era was largely self-induced as "celtic cubs" chased the dream, driven by the desire to make their fortune, fast car, more than one annual foreign holiday and the home of their dreams.   Now, however as things are changing fast as entrepreneurs/organisations are laying off staff, out-sourcing and contracting part-time workers, the stress factors have changed.   The stresses now emanate from the lack of employment or part-time work, financial pressures and too much free time.   People currently employed feel they must go to work even when they are genuinely ill, functioning at a substandard level, burdening their colleagues in the process, and subsequently suffering from "burn out.  This does not make sound business sense.

There is now a growing recognition that those most at risk are workers who have excessive demands on them without the means to influence those demands or modify work patterns.  It is a combination of work overload with a feeling of low control and low support that gives rise to most problems.  A combination of "work over load" or "quality under load" are causes for stress.  Employees involved in repetitive tasks working under close measurement and supervision to increase production quotas are likely to be stressed, particularly if their training, equipment or opportunity for breaks is inadequate. 

Stress and Ill Health

Continuous exposure to stress is likely to lead to ill health.  Increased blood pressure, for example may be a symptom of work-related stress.  Some people may experience muscular tension with chronic pain in the neck, head or shoulders.  Resistance to infection may be lowered.  The concept of "burn-out" is well documented - especially in the health and education sectors.  The reaction to stress can involve emotional, behavioral and physical reactions.  Emotional reactions can involve feelings of anxiety, depression, apathy, alienation and low esteem.  Such reactions can lead in turn to changes in behaviors.  This can take a number of forms like alcohol or drug abuse or increased tobacco consumption.  Some people in these situations may behave passively (like losing interest in their work or withdrawing into themselves)  Others may react aggressively.  All of this works against the entrepreneur/employer, thus an employer's legal duty of care towards his/her staff necessitates a plan of action which should be undertaken based on stress assessments in the work place.  Potentially, this could involve a number of strategies:-

• Redesign of work to expand the area of control and responsibility by the individual or work team and the elimination of monotonous or paced work.
• Improved and on-going training to promote new opportunities for learning and promotion.
• Improved workplace environment, e.g, improved design of work station layout and a reduction of noise levels.

An entrepreneur's/employer's legal duty of care towards his/her staff also includes the environment in which they work as mentioned above together with the more obvious stressors ranging from incorrect temperatures to poor design and lay out of machines by overcrowding or cluttering of work spaces.  Health and Safety legislation requires employers to carry out an assessment of these factors and to plan and implement strategies to remedy any associated problems.   

 Victims of stress must be supported.  Measures should be taken to identify such problems and intervene to assist vulnerable persons.  The focus should be on removing as far as practical the factors giving rise to stress.  Individual support though desirable, should not be the primary focus.  The overall systems in place should be competent, independent and confidential.  The individual deserve be sure that in being honest about his/her difficulties that this information would not be used to the detriment of his/ her prospects of further employment or promotion in the future.

 When an employee is faced with stress in the workplace, he/she should be encouraged to try and use it as an opportunity to grow by choosing wisely and positively.  It is how we grow through the challenges we encounter that determines our wisdom.  If we face the lesson and grow through it we will be the wiser for it, rather than let the stressors get the better of us.

 Employers are now waking up to the fact that a healthy stress-free workplace simply makes sound business sense.  And a happy balance between work and play, home and office, family and career, risk and reasonable security, is essential, not just for personal contentment but for productive endeavor profits and success.