Work stress major heart disease cause - ICTU

Stress in the workplace is a major contributor to the high incidence of heart disease in Ireland, according to a new report by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU).

The report, "Workplace Stress in Ireland", is designed to highlight the working conditions that cause this stress, and its ensuing cost to business.

According to ICTU General Secretary Mr Peter Cassells, Ireland’s prosperous economy can be maintained without paying the price in terms of the health of workers.

"We can continue to upgrade our standard of life without downgrading our quality of life," he said at the report launch in Dublin this morning.

"Heart problems caused by work-related stress underline the need to develop a society that will protect and nurture social and human values against the background of a successful and competitive economy."

Mr Cassells urged unions and management to work in partnership to remove the causes of employee stress "for their mutual benefit."

The Minister for Health Mr Martin welcomed the release of the report and said that it would help raise awareness of the dangers of stress in Ireland.

He said that Ireland had one of the highest rates of heart disease in the EU, and that tensions at work could be seen to be a major factor in this situation.

"The time has come to focus on stress and in particular on stress in the workplace as a public health issue. For too long there has been an acceptance of stress in the workplace, a feeling that stress is inevitable, that people work better when they are under pressure, that it doesn't do any real damage. Fortunately, this attitude is changing," Mr Martin said.

"It is ever increasingly an employees market and it is very much in the best interests of managers to ensure that their staff are content with their working conditions."

The report states that stress in the workplace is caused by a number of factors, including employees having too much or too little work to do, long hours, poor pay, dangerous or unhealthy conditions, low self-esteem among workers and lack of job security.

These factors can all lead to a detrimental effect on the business concerned, including lowered productivity, increased absenteeism, high staff turnover and customer dissatisfaction.

In terms of the effects of stress on employees, the ICTU report says they can suffer increased physical health risks, depression, anxiety, alcoholism and work-related accidents.

The report recommends that companies adopt the standards proposed by the Health and Safety Executive and conduct regular stress assessments of their employees to improve the climate in the workplace.