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Cara Williams is with the Labour and Household Surveys Analysis Divison. She can be reached at (613) 951-6972 or [email protected].
AN EMPLOYEE SITS AT HER DESK with numerous unread e-mail messages in her inbox, phone ringing, and a report to complete for the next morning. The demands of the job are making her anxious. At a nearby construction site, workers fear layoff as winter approaches. On the other side of town, a warehouse has begun using a computer-based inventory control system, and the staff are nervous about learning how to use it. These are just a few examples of sources of stress in the work environment.
Issues surrounding stress are continually in the media. Books on how to alleviate or live with stress are often bestsellers. But what is workplace stress? The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety defines workplace stress as the harmful physical and emotional responses that can happen when there is conflict between job demands on the employee and the amount of control an employee has over meeting these demands.
Work, family or other issues, alone or in combination, can lead to stress. While some stress is normal, research has shown that it can lead to the development of chronic conditions within a few years (Statistics Canada 2001). Other studies have shown that workers in highstrain jobs have higher rates of a wide variety of diseases than their counterparts in low-strain jobs (Wilkins and Beaudet 1998).
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The costs of workplace stress are not limited to those who experience the stress. The Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine reports that healthcare expenditures are nearly 50% greater for workers who report high levels of stress.(1) Prolonged stress can be costly to employers since it can result in increased absenteeism or a decline in productivity. For example, the 1990 Health Promotion Survey showed that absenteeism rose for employees who were concerned about interpersonal relations, job control, management practices, or safety. Additionally, the Canadian Policy Research Networks has estimated that stress-related absences cost employers about $3.5 billion each year (Duxbury and Higgins 2001).
The causes of stress are varied. In general, job stress is a result of the interaction between the worker and the conditions of work (NIOSH 1999). Perhaps the...