Workplace Stress

Workplace stress is a grave problem that needs to be addressed especially in this day and age, where the life of people are revolving more and more on the hectic work- based lifestyle. To give a broad definition, work related stress can be defined as an employee’s response to work related factors ranging from interactions, tasks etc. The effects of this stress can manifest in the employee as physical, mental, emotional and behavioral responses. There are various factors that contribute to work related stress such as organisational, environmental and individual factors, and each of them if not taken care of properly can have harmful effects on the health of an employee.

Organizational factors could be the main culprit and contributes more to workplace stress than any other factors. They include work demands, low levels of control over work,poor levels of support by supervisors and colleagues, lack of role clarity and role conflict, poorly managed relationships,poorly managed change, incivility etc. Cramped workspace, temperature and humidity, lighting etc could play a major role in environmental factors. Similarly, individual factors point to individual personality, endurance and resilience in managing workplace scenarios.

It is not that easy to spot stress responses as each individual responds differently, however it can be identified from a lot of behavioral responses. It can manifest as physical effects such as headaches, indigestion, tiredness, slow reactions, shortness of breath, and over the longer term, physical illness. Some people may show pronounced emotional effects such as like irritability, excess worrying, feeling worthless, anxiety, defensiveness, anger, and mood swings.

Consequently, all these stress responses will have an avalanche effect and can translate into negative effects at workplace

They include decline in:

• attendance
• productivity and efficiency
• job satisfaction, morale and team cohesion
• quality of relationships
• client satisfaction

As per OHS Law, every workplace is entitled to promote and facilitate a workplace that is tuned to prevent the effects of stress on employees by appropriately managing the risks that contribute to work-related stress. A simple basic order to do these are as follows:

• Identify hazards such as stress inducing job demands
• Assess the risk involved
• Control the risk
• Monitoring and reviewing to ensure the controls are working as they should

Last but not least, effective communication and consultation practices should be performed to ensure proper progress is seen in reducing or even eliminating stress from the workplace. Effective and genuine communication helps to:

• ensure employees feel valued and supported
• create a positive and less stressful work environment/culture
• encourage employees to support implemented safety solutions

This can be done through Health and Safety Representatives (HSR), which can act as a medium between employees and PCBU, as they have the first-hand experience to identify tasks, systems and processes that could cause or contribute to work-related stress.

If these methods are followed, then the ever increasing workplace stress could be curbed to a considerable extent, thus fostering a healthy work environment.