Why Workplace Stress Is a Collective Challenge and What to Do About It

The relationship between workplace stress and poor mental health is well established. In our recent publication, Workplace Stress: A Collective Challenge, the International Labour Organizations' Safety and Health at Work team surveyed the most recent studies on workplace stress from around the world including, among others, Asia and the Pacific, the Americas, Australia and Europe. We found that work related stress costs global society untold billions in direct and indirect costs annually. And that is quite apart from the human price paid in misery, suffering and even, according to some of the reports we looked at, in suicide. Growing pressure at work We often hear we live increasingly stressful working lives, but what does recent experience tell us? Well, let's begin with globalization. Global competitive processes have transformed work organization, working relations and employment patterns, contributing to the increase of work-related stress and its associated disorders. With the pace of work dictated by instant communications and high levels of global competition, the lines separating work from life are becoming more and more difficult to identify. An appropriate balance between work and private life is difficult to achieve. And the phenomenon is indeed global in its impact. For instance, we note a study from Japan that found 32.4 percent of workers reported suffering from strong anxiety, worry and stress from work in the previous year. In Chile, 2011 data shows...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news