Occupational Stress and Health

Occupational Stress and Health

Introduction

In recent years, occupational stress and health have gained

considerable importance to people in all forms life. Keeping in mind,

the excessive work load, amount of time spent at work and the recent

changes that are affecting the nature of work, it is not surprising

that work stress today is increasing (Szymanski, 1999). Stress can be

caused due to a number of reasons and in many ways and those things

are known as stressors which may vary from person to person. According

to the United States National Institute of Occupational Safety and

Health (1999), job stress can be defined as the harmful physical and

emotional responses that occur when the requirements of the job do not

match the capabilities, resources, or needs of the worker. It can also

lead to poor health and even injury.

http://www.ilo.org/public/english/protection/safework/stress/whatis.htm

People should be made more aware about the symptoms of stress and try

to precautionary measures before it affect their lives. Stress at work

can affect people both mentally and physically. Excessively high

levels of stress need to be controlled in order to avoid these health

related problems. A number of things can be done by employees and

employers to prevent workplace stress. Also, there are a number of

stress management techniques that can be used by people to ensure that

they lead a stress free life. Job related stressors should be

identified and dealt with so that an organisation and its employees

can operate efficiently and effectively.

Identifying stressors at work

The list of potential stressors is limitless. There may be times when

these are actually of use to us, creating simply a pressure s...

... middle of paper ...

...herwise, when unplanned things happen, it’ll

cause you just as much stress as trying to work without a plan.

References & Bibliography

International labour organisation – safe work program

http://www.ilo.org/public/english/protection/safework/stress/whatis.htm

Kendall, E., Murphee, P., O’Neill, V. & Bursnall, S. (2000). A report

to the workers’ compensation and rehabilitation commission (Western

Australia).Occupational Stress: Factors that contribute to its

occurrence and effective management. Centre for Human services (Griffith

University).

http://www.workcover.wa.gov.au

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)

http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/stresswk.html

Szymanski, E. M. (1999). Disability, job stress, the changing nature

of careers, and the career resilience portfolio. Rehabilitation Counselling

Bulletin. 42, pp 279-284.