Monday 20 May 2013

Work-related stress (Combined approach)

Work-related stress is generally caused by when the pressures or demands of a job are not suited to the employee. The daily pressures of work can consist of a lot of stressors, including responsibility, meeting deadlines, long hours, repetitiveness and lack of control. High stress can lead to both poor mental and physical health and can lead to heart problems and depression if a high stress response is maintained for a considerable length of time. 

Stress at work also costs businesses billions of pounds per year and is a common reason for sick leave from work. Thus, it's important that work as a cause of stress is considered.

One study which looked at work as a cause of stress was Johansson's Swedish Sawmill study. It was a quasi-experiment in a field setting which compared the stress experienced by maintenance workers and piece workers.

The first part of the sample was 14 "finishers", who completed piece work. The work was repetitive, mechanised, socially isolated, complex and pressured, and so this group was given the category of "high risk". Also in the sample were 10 maintenance workers, who were deemed as "low risk" workers; they worked as technicians or cleaners. 

Psychological and physiological measures were taken from the participants. Psychological measures included self-reported mood and wellbeing, as well as nicotine consumption, whilst physiological measures consisted of urine sample and body temperature checks. These measures were taken at various intervals throughout the day.

The results showed that the adrenaline levels of the high risk workers was 2x their baseline reading, and that this increased throughout the day, whilst the low risk workers had adrenaline 1.5x their baseline reading, and this dropped throughout the day. Thus, physiological measures suggested stress was more pronounced in the finishing group. Self-report measures showed similar findings; the finishers reported being more irritable, and having lower well-being.

Thus, it was concluded that work which is repetitive, mechanised and paid per piece may be more stressful than work which is paid per hour and is less pressured. 

2 comments:

  1. Heyy if a 10 mark question came up on work place stress what would u have included?

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  2. Heyy... Eliminate Hsv-1&2 (Herpes)_______________________Robinsonbuckler 11 @ gmail com

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