|
|
|
|
At a recent "Work, Stress and Health '" Baltimore conference, experts summarized their most recent findings: workers in the U.S. are putting in more hours and working harder than they have in the past two decades. All this, just to maintain their current standards of living. Findings at the conference were summarized in the , 1999 issue of the APA Monitor, the journal of the American Psychological Association. Gwendolyn P. Kieti, Ph.D., and associate executive director in the American Psychological Association's Public Interest Directorate, said that increased work demands means "that the occupational and safety health field is changing faster and more dramatically than we ever believed." Downsizing of American corporations is seen to be the major contributor of job stress and pressures. Twenty percent of the U.S. workforce is now putting in 49 hours a week. Along with the increase in hours is a growing fear that work won't be available at all. People at the bottom of the economic scale are, as one might expect, suffering the most from the downsizing and cost cutting. To make ends meet, many are working two jobs, thus accounting for the increase in hours. Those in the top twenty five to thirty percent of the work force are paid very well, perhaps better than ever before. The bottom 40 percent, however, are worse off than they were in 1970. And the group in the middle are pushing just to keep where they are. One of the topics discussed at the conference was whether lean production actually saves money in the long run because of the increased risk of health problems that accompanies the increase in demands on workers. Lean production techniques in factories reduce autonomy, decrease job satisfaction and thereby increase stress on production lines. Speakers at the conference seemed to suggest, however, that lean production techniques by themselves aren't the culprit. It's how they are managed, and how much management support is available to workers under these changed conditions. Worker control seems to make a big difference in reported stress levels. Downsizing affects everyone, including those in health care. Nurses experience more injuries and health related problems when the number of nursing staff is reduced. The question
for everyone is: do we gain anything by cutting costs at one end, if we
increase health care costs and demotivate staff? Clearly organizations
need to look at how they emotionally impact their staff. They watch
carefully for excessive mechanical stress, and they need to open their
eyes to human stress as well.
Janelle M. Barlow,
Ph.D.
|
|
  
   |
|
TMI US 8270 West Charleston Blvd Las Vegas, Nevada 89117 tel: 702 939-1800
Website designed by |
Previous
"Stress Management Corner" pages:
