Work-related stress is generally due to the design and management of work organisation, and initiatives to reduce workplace stress should concentrate on the organisational level rather than focusing solely on "caring for or curing" the individual worker, according to a new report by an official European Union agency. The EU Agency for Safety and Health at Work, based in Bilbao, Spain, said that work-related stress is a recognised and increasing health and safety risk for Europe's workforce.
It affects about 41 million workers in the EU or 28 per cent of the workforce and causes millions of lost working days each year. Incidentally, the agency points out that some 600 million working days are lost in the EU each year from all work-related ill health. Workplace stress is experienced "when the demands from the work environment exceed the employees' ability to cope with (or control) them," the agency said.
But rather than blaming the individual for not being up to the job, the report unambiguously said that it is the organisation that tends to require attention.
Moreover, the workplace can present workers with "psychosocial hazards of work that are experienced as stressful and/or otherwise carry the potential for harm". The report presents 10 categories of "job characteristics, work environments and organisational factors that may be hazardous" and outlines workplace conditions which prove stressful and harmful to health.
For instance, poor communication, low levels of support for problem-solving and personal development, and insufficient definition of organisational objectives could constitute psychosocial hazards injurious to workers' health. Role ambiguity or role conflict can also be deemed to be workplace hazards injurious to health, so the issue of role in the organisation needs to be addressed. Low participation in decision making and workers' lack of control over their work can also cause stress, so employers should address the issue of decision latitude and control in the workplace.
Employers need to address interpersonal relationships at work if there is social or physical isolation, poor relationships with superiors, interpersonal conflict or a lack of social support.
Workers involved in short work cycles, who have a lack of variety of work tasks, whose work is fragmented or meaningless, or whose skills are underused are vulnerable to stress and associated health problems and the design of tasks should be reviewed. Work overload or underload, lack of control over pacing and high time pressures can also raise stress levels and damage health, while shift working, inflexible work schedules, unpredictable hours or long or unsocial hours are organisational issues which employers should address. The report proposes using the "risk management /control cycle" framework to prevent and manage workplace stress.
This is the approach required of employers in Ireland and the EU by law for managing physical hazards at work.
The full report by Cox, T., Griffiths and A., RialGonzalez is available on the EU Agency's website at http://agency.osha.eu.int/publications/reports/stress/ jmarms@irish-times.ie
