Occupational stress: Managing pressure at work

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Table of Contents

Topic                                                                      Page Number

Synopsis……………………………………………...2

Introduction…………………………………………..3

Identifying stressors at work…………………………4

The outcomes of stress at work………………………6

Making the most of pressure at work………………...7

Overcoming pressure at work………………………10

Conclusion…………………………………………..11

References…………………………………………..12

Synopsis

Occupational stress: Managing pressure at work

Introduction

        In recent years, occupational stress and health have gained considerable importance to people in all forms life. Keeping in mind, the excessive work load, amount of time spent at work and the recent changes that are affecting the nature of work, it is not surprising that work stress today is increasing (Szymanski, 1999). Stress can be caused due to a number of reasons and in many ways and those things are know as stressors which may vary from person to person. According to the United States National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (1999), job stress can be defined as the harmful physical and emotional responses that occur when the requirements of the job do not match the capabilities, resources, or needs of the worker. It can also lead to poor health and even injury.

 People should be made more aware about the symptoms of stress and try to precautionary measures before it affect their lives. Stress at work can affect people both mentally and physically. Excessively high levels of stress need to be controlled in order to avoid these health related problems. A number of things can be done by employees and employers to prevent workplace stress. Also, there are a number of stress management techniques that can be used by people to ensure that they lead a stress free life. Job related stressors should be identified and dealt with so that an organisation and its employees can operate efficiently and effectively.

Identifying stressors at work

The list of potential stressors is limitless. There may be times when these are actually of use to us, creating simply a pressure situation. However, too many factors at any one time will develop into a stress situation. It may be argued that any change or adaptation in life has the potential to produce a stress response. It is important to remember that not all the stressors identified will necessary be stress-inducing to all individuals. Depending on how a person interprets a situation due to their culture, environmental and genetic make-up, so it may or may not be a source of stress. Certain common events in people’s lives have the capacity to cause stress. More subtle and vague is the exposure to repeated minor sources of stress, example; a poor environmental conditions or difficult relationship either at work or at home. When it builds up these may be even more detrimental in leading to a decline in health and effective work performance. Understanding ourselves and knowing our abilities are fundamentals to handling pressure effectively.

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What does the job involve?

If the job involves career development, as long as they can exercise control, has enough time and does not experience frustrating delays or relationships, they will continue to enjoy work. However, for example, they feel the need of additional training of some kind, but either he supposed he couldn’t afford the time or it was beyond his control to arrange the training, then a situation of stress may develop.

        Sometimes the perception being seen as inefficient creates stress in people with respect to their workload. If people are not seen to be productive, they ...

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