Occupational Stress

[Excerpt] “I’m stressed out.” The reality may be that the worker saying this is, in fact, experiencing an occupational illness. Many employees undergo stress as a normal part of their jobs, but some experience it more severely than others, to the point that they need time away from work. The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses classifies occupational stress as “neurotic reaction to stress.” There were 3,418 such illness cases in 1997. The median absence from work for these cases was 23 days, more than four times the level of all nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses. And more than two-fifths of the cases resulted in 31 or more lost workdays, compared to one-fifth for all injury and illness cases. (See chart.

The Influence of Occupational Driver Stress on Work-related Road Safety: An Exploratory Review

Research has identified a number of stressors that could impact on the occupational driver by increasing stress levels and, for some individuals, causing adverse behaviour and effects, for example, aggressive behaviour, fatigue, inattention/distraction, and substance abuse. For safety professionals and employers, one way to reduce the effects of occupational driver stress is to change perceptions so that management and drivers recognise that work-related driving is as important as other work-related tasks. This article explores relevant literature in relation to driver stress and suggests additions to risk management processes and safety procedures/policies, including assigning sufficient basic resources to target occupational stress (particularly occupational driver stress)

The Predictor of external environment, occupational stress, job satisfaction and intent to leave towards organizational commitment

The purpose of this article was to determine the relationship between external environment, occupational stress, job satisfaction and intent to leave towards organizational commitment. A convenience sample group of 130 employees of Northport (Malaysia) Bhd. were selected over 2272 of total population at year 2009. A self–administered survey instrument was developed to measure and test the employee external environment, occupational stress, job satisfaction, and intent to leave towards organizational commitment. Using SPSS 16.0, two statistical tests were employed to test study hypotheses. First, by measuring correlation, a Pearson correlation coefficient analysis was used to identify the relationships between predictor and criterion variables. Likewise, multiple regression analysis was used to determine the effect between external environment, occupational stress and job satisfaction among related variables. The findings reveal that job satisfaction, occupational stress and intent to leave does affect organizational commitment. At the same time, occupational stress gives impact to the intent to leave. Unlike external environments, it does not effect on both organizational commitment and intent to leave. Among predictor variable towards the organizational commitment, the job satisfaction were produced strong relationship. Keyword: environment, occupational stress and job satisfaction and organizational commitmen

Personal characteristics, occupational stress and turnover intentions among school teachers in Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia

Stress is considered as a serious problem in the modern workplace. This paper summarizes occupational stress and turnover intentions experienced by secondary school teachers in the state of Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia. The aim of this study is to investigate the differences across different personal characteristics of the teachers and their level of stress and turnover intention. A total of 150 self-administered questionnaires were collected from secondary schools in the state of Negeri Sembilan. The study reveals that there are significant differences between teachers’ personal characteristics with occupational stress and turnover intention. This study also revealed that there is a positive significant relationship between occupational stress and turnover intention experienced by these teachers. Based on the results, some recommendations are provided

Occupational stress amongmhealth professionals in Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital (A.B.U.T.H.),Shika, Zaria, Nigeria

This study was carried out to survey occupational stress among health professionals in Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital (ABUTH),Shika, Zaria. The study was aimed at investigating the differences in perception of stress among different health professionals in ABUTH. The descriptive survey design method was used. Questionnaires were distributed based on availability to the different dusters o f health professionals in the study group. A sample size of 107 was used comprising 45 nurses, 48 doctors, 5 pharmacists, 3 physiotherapists and 6 medical lab scientists. The findings showed that most of the respondents (36.5%) were within the age range of 31-40 years and very few of them were aged 55 years and above. More than fifty six percent(56.7%) o f the total respondents were males. Seventy five percent (75%>) of the respondents stay long (7-1 0hours) at work which could be a contributing factor to the development of occupational stress in them. Most of the respondents (90.4%) were identified to be stressed due to work overload because the number of health professionals available to carry out a particular function is inadequate. Eighty percent (80%) of respondents exhibit anger and irritability while twenty seven percent (27%>) engaged in absenteeism when they are stressed up. A lot of respondents (78.8%) combat these signs and symptoms of stress by the use of physical exercise. The following measures were recommended to help prevent stress at work: respondents should ensure that the workload is in line with their capabilities and resources, jobs should be designed so that they provide meaning, there should be positive stimulation and opportunities for workers to use their skills, workers' roles and responsibilities should be clearly defined, communication within the work place should be dear and unambiguous, there should also be opportunities for career development and future employment prospects

Breastfeeding and Occupational Stress and Fatigue of Female Workers in Garment Manufacturing Companies

Female workers have not been clearly defined in the legislation that supports breastfeeding. Moreover, a significant number of them experience occupational stress and fatique, which may disturb productivity. The research aimed to reveal the stress and fatigue level of breastfeeding female workers from garment companies in Sobosukawonosraten area of Central Java. Using cross sectional approach, this analytical survey involved 210 female workers of six garment companies across six districts. Furthermore, cluster snowball sampling technique was used to sample the workers, and chi-square test was used to analyze the data. Research results indicated a significant correlation between breastfeeding and occupational stress (X2= 15.307, p= 0.000) with an effect of 26.1% (C= 26.1; OR= 3.124); and another significant correlation between breastfeeding and occupational fatigue (X2= 15.307, p= 0.000) with a 55.5% effect (C= 55.5; OR= 30.82). On the whole, breastfeeding female workers have special needs and require attention from the companies in order to continue supporting good breastfeeding for the babies, who will become the nation’s future generation

The association between overall health, psychological distress, and occupational heat stress among a large national cohort of 40,913 Thai workers

BACKGROUND Occupational heat stress is a well-known problem, particularly in tropical countries, affecting workers, health and well-being. There are very few recent studies that have reported on the effect of heat stress on mental health, or overall health in workers, although socioeconomic development and rapid urbanization in tropical developing countries like Thailand create working conditions in which heat stress is likely. OBJECTIVE This study is aimed at identifying the relationship between self-reported heat stress and psychological distress, and overall health status in Thai workers. RESULTS 18% of our large national cohort (>40,000 subjects) often works under heat stress conditions and males are exposed to heat stress more often than females. Furthermore, working under heat stress conditions is associated with both worse overall health and psychological distress (adjusted odds ratios ranging from 1.49 to 1.84). CONCLUSIONS This association between occupational heat stress and worse health needs more public health attention and further development on occupational health interventions as climate change increases Thailand's temperatures.This study was supported by the International Collaborative Research Grants Scheme with joint grants from the Wellcome Trust UK (GR0587MA) and the Australian NHMRC (268055)

Individual differences and occupational stress perceived: a Croatian survey

Apart from elaborating the concept of occupational stress (through it’s definition, sources, consequences, ways of dealing with it, and it’s relationship with individual differences), the research had two objectives: (1) to measure occupational stress levels among different categories of employees working in Croatian enterprises, and (2) to study and analyze stress in Croatia in relation to individual differences (gender, age, marital status, parenthood, number of children, hierarchical level, department, and working hours). The greatest level of stress perceive respondents who have three or more children, who are more than 50 year old, and those employed in marketing, at middle levels or in procurement, while the lowest level of stress perceive employees younger than 30 years of age, those employed in HR, finances and production, and parents of one child. Concerning the relationship between individual differences and levels of stress experienced, although the cross-sectional design of the study does not allow for causal interpretation of relationships found, findings suggest that there is a connection between age, marital status, parenthood, number of children and hierarchical level, and the way stress is perceived, while gender, department and working hours are not connected to it. The research integrated a broader set of antecedent variables which enable a better understanding of the demographic and work factors that lead to occupational stress. That should subsequently help managers understand a greater proportion of the variance of employees’ satisfaction, performance and turnover, and help them better deal with it.occupational stress, sources of occupational stress, consequences of occupational stress, individual differences, Croatia

Predicting occupational strain and job satisfaction: the role of stress, coping, personality, and affectivity variables

Four studies employed path analysis to examine how measures of occupational stressors, coping resources, and negative affectivity (NA) and positive affectivity (PA) interact to predict occupational strain. The Occupational Stress Inventory (Osipow & Spokane, 1987) was used to measure stress, strain, and coping. The Positive and Negative Affectivity Schedule (Watson, Clark, & Tellegen, 1988) was used for the affectivity variables. The hypothesised model showed NA and PA as background dispositional variables that influenced relations among stress, strain, and coping while still allowing stress and coping to have a direct influence on strain. Goodness of fit indices were acceptable with the model predicting 15 per cent of the variance in stress, 24 per cent of coping, and 70 per cent of strain. Study 2 replicated these findings. Study 3 added a positive outcome variable, job satisfaction (JSI: Brayfield & Rothe, 1951) to the model. The expanded model again fit the data well. A fourth study added a global measure of personality (NEO-FFI: Costa & McCrae, 1991) to the model tested in Study 3. Results indicated that personality measures did not add anything to the prediction of job satisfaction and strain in a model that already included measures of stressors, coping resources, NA and PA. The series of four studies yielded a reliable structural model that highlights the influence of organizational and dispositional variables on occupational strain and job satisfaction