Stress management standards: a warning indicator for employee health

Background: Psychological stress is a major cause of lost working days in the UK. The Health and Safety Executive have developed Management Standards (MS) to help organisations to assess work-related stress. Aims: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationships between the MS Indicator Tool and employee health, job attitudes, work performance and environmental outcomes. Methods: The first phase involved a survey employing the MS Indicator Tool, GHQ-12, job attitudes, work performance and environmental measures. Three hundred and four call centre employees from a large utility company responded. The second phase comprised six focus groups to investigate what employees believed contributed to their perceived stress. Results: Significant negative correlations were found between GHQ-12 and two MS dimensions; demands (Rho = -0.211, p = 0.000) and relationships (Rho = -0.134, p = 0.02). Other dimensions showed no significant relationship with GHQ-12. Higher levels of stress were associated with reduced job performance, job motivation and increased intention to quit but low stress levels were associated with reduced job satisfaction. Lack of management support, recognition and development opportunities were identified as sources of stress. Conclusion: The findings support the utility of the MS as a measure of employee attitudes and performance

Perceptions of the cost implications of health and safety failures

PROJECT AIMS: A number of UK health and safety initiatives have incorporated economic data regarding the cost of accidents and work-related ill health in an attempt to motivate employers to improve their health and safety performance. Recent attempts have also been made to encourage and facilitate organisations to start actively measuring the costs that they incur due to health and safety failures. However, there has been limited research conducted to establish organisations’ perceptions of the costs they incur due to accidents and work-related ill health or their attitudes towards, and experiences of measuring these costs. Therefore, the aims of this study were to: • Explore knowledge and awareness of the costs incurred due to workplace accidents/incidents and work-related ill health • Investigate the extent to which organisations measure the cost of their health and safety failures and explore their attitudes towards, and experiences of, measuring these costs • Provide organisations with a tool for assessing the cost of accidents/incidents (including both injury and non-injury events) and work-related ill health in real time to obtain a measure of the immediate costs incurred by organisations in a range of industry sectors • Establish whether providing organisations with a tool for measuring the cost of accidents/incidents in real time influences perceptions and changes working practices • Examine the implications that the findings have for health and safety information provision and make recommendations for future health and safety initiative

How do people differentiate between jobs: and how do they define a good job?

Employed individuals from a range of jobs (n=18) were interviewed using a repertory grid technique, to explore the criteria they used to distinguish between different jobs. The concepts of 'a good job' and 'a job good for health' were also discussed. Interactions with others and the job itself were the most commonly used criteria and were also the most common features of a 'good job'. Pay and security were mentioned frequently but were less important when comparing jobs and when defining a 'good job'. Physical activity was rarely associated by interviewees with a 'good job' but was frequently associated with a 'job good for health'. A comprehensive definition of a 'good job' needs to take all these factors into account

What is a 'good' job? Modelling job quality for blue collar workers

This paper proposes a model of job quality, developed from interviews with blue collar workers: bus drivers, manufacturing operatives and cleaners (n=80). The model distinguishes between core features, important for almost all workers, and 'job fit' features, important to some but not others, or where individuals might have different preferences. Core job features found important for almost all interviewees included job security, personal safety, and having enough pay to meet their needs. 'Job fit' features included autonomy and the opportunity to form close relationships. These showed more variation between participants; priorities were influenced by family commitments, stage of life and personal preference. The resulting theoretical perspective indicates the features necessary for a job to be considered 'good' by the person doing it, whilst not adversely affecting their health. The model should have utility as a basis for measuring and improving job quality and the laudable goal of creating 'good jobs'. Practitioner summary Good work can contribute positively to health and wellbeing, but there is a lack of agreement regarding the concept of a 'good' job. A model of job quality has been constructed based on semi-structured worker interviews (n=80). The model emphasises the need to take into account variation between individuals in their preferred work characteristics

Facilitators and barriers to the protection and promotion of the health and safety of older workers

© 2017 Institution of Occupational Safety and Health. Individuals may experience health issues or physical, sensory or psychological capability changes related to ageing. With the removal of the default retirement age in the UK, older workers can remain in work well into later life. Health and safety statistics, however, indicate that they are a vulnerable group. Older workers have much to contribute, but employers have a responsibility to examine the working environment to protect those with reduced capabilities. This article reviews two qualitative studies examining the facilitators and barriers to implementing age management strategies to promote the health and safety of older workers. The findings reveal that employers are uncertain how to proceed with implementing actions to protect older workers. Discussions with older workers reveal they do not feel supported or engaged. They are fearful of reporting any capability changes that may affect their ability to perform work tasks as they believe this may have negative consequences for their future employment. A co-ordinated multi-disciplinary approach between human resources, operational management, health and safety specialists and occupational health functions is required

Bus driving - can it be a good job?

Bus driving is recognised as an occupation where jobs are typically of poor quality and can have adverse effects on health. The current study explored how job quality differed for bus and coach drivers from three companies, identifying the most realistic areas for improvement, based on the similarities and differences between the companies. It also confirmed the usefulness of this approach for ergonomics in general. In areas of stress management and low control there was found to be limited potential for change. Scope for improvement was found in planning of working hours, health and safety, and vehicle/maintenance quality in some companies. However, it was acknowledged that change was unlikely to occur unless employers could be persuaded that it would be beneficial to their organisation

How people who self-harm negotiate the inpatient environment: the mental healthcare workers perspective

Introduction Literature describes self-harm as functional and meaningful. This creates difficulties for service-users detained in an inpatient environment where self-harm is prevented. Aim Mental healthcare staff were interviewed to build on existing evidence of issues with the prevention approach and explore, from a staff perspective, how self-harm prevention impacts on service-users, how they manage distress and how this impacts on staff and their approach to care. Methods Qualitative methods were used to allow unexpected themes to arise. Ten semi-structured interviews were carried out with mental healthcare staff and thematically analysed. Findings and discussion The findings provide new evidence on the benefits and limitations of the inpatient environment for individuals who self-harm. Findings indicate that being unable to self-harm can lead to a continuation of distress and subsequent potentially harmful attempts to manage distress. Staff described experiencing a struggle for control in preventing self-harm, leading to increasingly harmful methods of self-harm. Alternatively some staff were able to support service-users with distress management. We discuss factors influencing which of these ‘paths’ service-users followed. Implications Considerations for care planning including understanding self-harm, using individualized care planning and attending to barriers are outlined with the ultimate aim of reducing distress and the impact of prevention of self-harm

The impact of health and safety management on organisations and their staff

The research assessed the impact of organisational approaches to occupational safety and health (OSH) management on organisational performance, safety climate, employees’ attitudes to the organisation and employees’ health and wellbeing. The research was conducted in 31 case study organisations, covering a broad range of company sizes and industrial sectors. Seventy-eight interviews were conducted with health and safety managers, directors and workers’ representatives across the organisations to obtain in-depth information on OSH management and organisational performance indicators. The findings from the interviews were used to classify organisational OSH approaches into three categories: ‘yet to be fully engaged’, ‘complier’ and ‘very good’ (using the Continuous Improvement Cycle model). A cross-sectional survey of employees from these organisations (involving a sample of 2,067 employees) looked at the impact of company size, industrial sector and approach to OSH management on indicators of organisational performance and employees’ attitudes and health outcomes. Public sector employees reported lower safety climate perceptions and more work-related illnesses than private sector employees. Comparisons between specific industrial sectors showed that employees in the construction industry have the highest levels of general health, safety climate awareness, organisational commitment and self-reported job performance. Employees in the utilities and property development, renting and business activities sectors also reported high levels of selfreported health and safety climate perceptions, and positive organisational attitudes. Large organisations reported higher staff absence rates, yet employees in small and medium-sized businesses reported higher levels of work-related illness. With regard to the impact of the organisation’s OSH approach on employees, ‘very good’ organisations were found to show more positive safety climate perceptions across eight out of the nine safety climate dimensions. Employees in organisations with ‘very good’ OSH management were more committed to their organisations and showed greater satisfaction with their job than employees in organisations which are categorised as ‘yet to be fully engaged’ or ‘complier’. These positive safety climate and organisational attitudes were associated with better self-reported physical and mental health

Measuring job quality: a study with bus drivers

There is growing interest in the contribution which job design can make to worker health; also a desire to better understand the multidimensional notion of ‘job quality’ and to develop approaches to measuring this. This paper reviews concepts of ‘job quality’ and ‘good jobs’ and examines these issues in the work of bus drivers, an occupational group commonly reported as having poor health and poor working conditions. The DGB-Index (Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund Good Work Index), a tool used recently in Germany for measuring job quality, was translated and administered to a sample of UK bus drivers (n = 381). It found job quality to be significantly lower than that for a group of non-drivers in the same organisation; and better than that for a sample of German bus drivers. We conclude that the DGB-Index is an effective tool for measuring job quality and providing feedback to employers; and could be used to compare job quality between organisations or internationally

Management strategies to help engage, protect and promote the health and safety of older workers

Management strategies to help engage, protect and promote the health and safety of older worker