Work and Stress - Page 4 of 5

MODULE 7: PSYCHOSOCIAL ISSUES AND OTHER MISCELLANEOUS TOPICS IN OCCUPATIONAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH - SECTION 5: WORK AND STRESS: 3: Intervention Programmes For Stress Reduction

3: INTERVENTION PROGRAMMES FOR STRESS REDUCTION:

INTERACTIVE QUESTION AND DISCUSSION: You are the Chief Medical Officer for a large multinational. You have been tasked with developing a programme for stress reduction in your corporation. Suggest some ways in which you will go about this?

Response:

The key to reducing stress in the workplace involves a comprehensive approach of organisational change and appropriate stress management for individual workers. The NIOSH Handbook covers this is greater detail.

In summary, stress management includes the provision of Employee Assistance Programmes and stress management training. Through programmes on stress management, workers learn about the nature and causes of stress, its impacts on health and some individual strategies to cope with stress. In EAP programmes, workers have the opportunity for individual counselling and developing coping strategies for work and non work related stress. The most important disadvantage of of such programmes is that it addresses only worker characteristics of stress, and not the working environment causes. For a stress intervention programme to be effective, the work environment has to be addressed.

Organisational change is probably the most important aspect of stress intervention in the workplace. It involves the identification of stressful aspects of work and the design of strategies to reduce or eliminate the identified stressors.

How to Change the Organization to Prevent Job Stress

Ensure that the workload is in line with workers' capabilities and resources.
Design jobs to provide meaning, stimulation, and opportunities for workers to use their skills.
Clearly define workers' roles and responsibilities.
Give workers opportunities to participate in decisions and actions affecting their jobs.
Improve communications-reduce uncertainty about career development and future employment prospects.
Provide opportunities for social interaction among workers.
Establish work schedules that are compatible with demands and responsibilities outside the job (NIOSH, 1999).

In investigating the work organisational causes of stress, the standard hazard evaluation methodology is useful. NIOSH proposes these steps (NIOSH, 1999):

Step 1. Identification of the problem by:

Group discussions with employees.
Design an employee survey.
Measure employee perceptions of job conditions, stress, health, and satisfaction.
Collect objective data.
Analyze data to identify problem locations and stressful job conditions.

Step 2: Design and implement interventions:

Target source of stress for change.
Propose and prioritize intervention strategies.
Communicate planned interventions to employees.
Implement interventions.

Step 3: Evaluate the interventions:

Conduct both short- and long-term evaluations.
Measure employee perceptions of job conditions, stress, health, and satisfaction.
Include objective measures.
Refine the intervention strategy and return to Step 1.