CHAPTER 5

STRESS AND SAFETY

• Psychological, social, occupational or environmental are the external stimuli, and

• the stress is the response of the human body to this stimuli.

• Workplace/job stress as the harmful physical and emotional responses that occur when the requirements of excessive demands, poor supervision or conflicting demands.

Definition of Workplace Stress

• Workplace stress• Task complexity• Control• Feeling of

responsibility• Job security• Workload demands• Psychological

support• Environmental

safety

Sources of Workplace Stress

• Human reactions to workplace stress may be grouped into a. Subjective/emotional (anxiety, aggression, guilt)

b. Behavioral (being prone to accidents, trembling)

c. Cognitive ( inability to concentrate or make decision)

d. Physiological (increased heart rate, blood pressure)

e. Organizational (absenteeism and poor productivity)

Human Reactions to Workplace Stress

• M. Selye identified three stages

a. Alarm

b. Resistance

c. Exhaustion

Human Stress Response

Measurement of Workplace Stress3 Ways to measure:

1. Subjective Ratings

-Workers are asked to rate their perceived level of work-load.

2. Behavioral time sharing

-Technique require the simultaneous performance of two tasks.

-Task one is consider to be primary or most important

-Task two is of secondary tasks.

3. Psychophysiological techniques

-require to measurement of heart rate and brain waves.

SHIFT WORK, STRESS, AND SAFETY

-require some employees to work when the majority people are resting

-requires rotating between 2 or 3 different starting times

CIRCADIAN RHYTHM

Basic physiological functions are scheduled by the biological clock

Day shift-higher job satisfaction Rotating shifts over several weeks can result

in desensitization to the CR

Reducing the Stress Associated with Shift Work

• Encourage shift workers to exercise regularly

• Encourage shift workers to avoid caffeine, alcohol, or other drugs

• Workers cannot sleep, take sleeping pills, side effects

Improving Safety By Reducing Workplace Stress

Organization ApproachTrainingJob AutonomyWork Environment → Physical stress ↓

Individual ApproachLearn to recognize its symptoms Analyse stress-producing situationRelaxation methods

Stress in Safety Managers Overload Ever-changing safety regulations Communication problems with internal stackholders Competing loyalties

Strategies to cope with stress Prioritize activities that present most risk Work together with legal staff Formalize communication and hold OSH meeting regularly Focus on possible risk