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Safety, stress and health at work

Q: Stress coping strategies

1. Problem focused (defining problem, gereating solutions, implementing solutions) 2. Emotion focused (trying to manage anxiety via denial or wishful thinking, or distancing oneself from the problem) 3. Appraisal focused (redefining the situation)

13 important questions on Safety, stress and health at work

Factor that promote health and safety at organizations

1. Employment security
2. Selective hiring
3. Extensive training
4. Self-managed teams and decentralized decision-making
5. Reduce status distinctions
6. Share information
7. Compensation contingent on safe performance - high pay communicates that the employee is valued.

Non-fatal injuries at work are highest amongst young workers, especially males, in the 15-24 years age group. This is because those in this age group are more likely to have perceptions of invulnerability, to be sensation seeking, rebellious and to experience negative affect (disappointment at the quality of the work they are required to do).

Occupational health psychology (OHP)

Aims to improve quality of work life by promoting the health, safety and well-being of workers by applying psychology and by developing evidence-based knowledge. OHP researchers focus on psychosocial work characteristics that affect physical and metnal health problems.

Stress and strain at work

Work-related stress has an enormous impact in terms of both economic costs and human suffering. Factors contributing to the high levels of stress include staff shortages and a lack of investment in skilled staff; inadequate resourcing; inconsistent and inadequate occupational health services; failure of top management to commit to tackling staff health and well-being issues; failure to use information on the extent, and costs, of poor health and well-being programmes.

Fight or Flight model

Humans' physiological and psychological response to acute episodic stress; you either fight or flight. Your body is giving you the capacity to do both these things. The problem with this reaction is that it takes the body some time to return to a resting baseline and th emore frequently fight or flight reactions are produced the less time the body is at rest. In a worst case scenario; the failure to return to a state of relaxation leads to the basal level of arousal being permanently raised with associated negative consequences such as high blood pressure and coronary heart disease.

General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) model

Three stages: alarm (body secretes stress hormones; adrenalin, noradrenalin, ephinephrine and cortisol), resistance (tries to adapt by coping with the stressors; sustained psycho-physiological arousal at a lower level of intensity than the alarm rate) and exhaustion (when resistance decreased resulting in the person feeling burned out, becoming ill etc.).

This model describes longer-lasting chronic stress.

Strain or the consequences of stressors

physiological consequences (gastrointestinal and cardiovascular illness), psychological consequences (depression and anxiety) and behavioural consequences (absenteeism, spillover of tensions into home life and lower levels of organizational citizenship behaviour).

Model of work stress

Hazards at work such as demands, role ambiguity and organizational change, affect employees which in turn leads to higher levels of individual and organizational ill health (absenteeism, turnover, reduced performance), which lead to negative outcomes for individuals (coronary heart disease, clinical depression) and organizations (reduced profit, more accidents) and huge national-level financial costs and losses.

Conservation of Resources theory (COR)

Proposes that when people lose physical, emotional or cognitive resources they put energy into trying to limit the impact of the loss, which requires additional resources. Stress occurs when resources are threatened, when resources are lost or when resources are invested without the expected benefits.

Humans ar emore focused on loss than gain, attention is focused on workplace factors that threaten resources. These are more salient than rewards.

Moreover, there is evidence that the effects of loss of resources are chronic.

Stress coping strategies

1. Problem focused (defining problem, gereating solutions, implementing solutions)

2. Emotion focused (trying to manage anxiety via denial or wishful thinking, or distancing oneself from the problem)

3. Appraisal focused (redefining the situation)

Person environment (PE) fit model

Proposed that to the extent that a person's skills and abilities match the job requirements and work environment within which they find themselves, the better will be their well-being and the lower their levels of strain.

1. person-job fit: relates to the extent to which the skills, abilities and interests of the individual are compatible with job requirements.
2. Person-organization fit: refers to whether the values of the organization are consistent with the values of the individual.

Primary interventions to reduce and manage stress

Prevent stress to attack stressor.
1. eliminating stressors in environment
2. redesign tasks
3. Strengthen teamcohesion
4. Changing appraisals of stressors via cognitive restructuring
5. Law (arbo-weg)
6. Making sure people know about work stress

Secondary interventions to reduce and manage stress

Reduce people's response to stress.
1. relaxation exercises
2. stress management training
3. encouraging emotion focused coping
4. Teaching people about stress
5. meditation
6. social support
7. emotional support
8. instrumental support
9. appraisal support

Tertiary interventions to reduce and manage stress

Focused on helping individuals cope with consequences of stressors.
1. Assistance programmes (EAPs)
2. bedrijfsarts
3. medisch specialist
4. psycholoog, psychiater

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Inleiding Psychologie en Maatschappij: Arbeids- en Organisatiepsychologie

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Safety, stress and health at work

13 important questions on Safety, stress and health at work

Factor that promote health and safety at organizations

Occupational health psychology (OHP)

Stress and strain at work

Fight or Flight model

General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) model

Strain or the consequences of stressors

Model of work stress

Conservation of Resources theory (COR)

Stress coping strategies

Person environment (PE) fit model

Primary interventions to reduce and manage stress

Secondary interventions to reduce and manage stress

Tertiary interventions to reduce and manage stress

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