{"id":79207,"date":"2023-09-04T12:21:39","date_gmt":"2023-09-04T17:21:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.stress.org\/?p=79207"},"modified":"2024-04-06T04:06:48","modified_gmt":"2024-04-06T04:06:48","slug":"diagnosis-workplace-safety","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.stress.org\/news\/diagnosis-workplace-safety\/","title":{"rendered":"Diagnosis: Workplace Safety"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"With workplace stress at an all-time high, safety leaders are in a unique position to improve the situation at their companies.<\/p>\n

What causes workplace stress? Answering that question might be the most important thing a company can do, not only in terms of fostering better mental health for its employees but also to ensure the company\u2019s own financial health. According to The American Institute of Stress<\/strong><\/a>, workplace stress costs US companies roughly $300 billion annually in losses due to absenteeism, diminished productivity and accidents. That number right there makes a pretty solid business case for better understanding\u2014and managing\u2014the causes of stress, since the effects can be devastating.<\/p>\n

According to The Healthy Work Campaign (HWC), a public health project sponsored by the nonprofit foundation, The Center for Social Epidemiology, the top 10 causes of work stress are: 1) long work hours, 2) low job control, 3) work-family conflict, 4) shift work, 5) job demands, 6) job insecurity, 7) organizational injustice, 8) low support, 9) low rewards and benefits, and 10) unemployment.<\/p>\n

In every one of those situations, there\u2019s an obvious lack of engagement between the employee and the employer. And as workplace expert Joe Robinson, principal of Optimal Performance Strategies, an HWC partner, explained, \u201cEngagement is one of the most important factors for any organization, whether their employees are actually fully attentive and on the task that they\u2019re on.\u201d And for safety managers, ensuring that a worker is fully attentive is not only essential to productivity but to keeping that employee\u2014and all other employees\u2014out of harm\u2019s way.<\/p>\n

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\u201cStress automatically detours and distracts,\u201d added Robinson, author of\u00a0Work Smarter, Live Better<\/i>. He cited a study from the American Psychological Association (APA) that indicates we\u2019re at an all-time high for stress and burnout in the workplace. \u201cPeople who are burned out are not slackers,\u201d he insisted. \u201cThey get that way because they\u2019re the most conscientious people and they\u2019re the hardest workers. So you\u2019re burning out your best people. You\u2019re disengaging them, which doesn\u2019t make any sense at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another recent study from the APA points to the disturbing statistic that 19% of workers\u2014nearly one in five\u2014say their workplace is either very toxic or somewhat toxic. \u201cThe number of individuals who report experiencing a toxic workplace without protection from harm is troubling,\u201d said Arthur C. Evans Jr., APA\u2019s CEO. \u201cNo one should feel fear at work. It is clear there is much work to be done to foster a positive work environment for all workers in the nation.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the recent ASSP Safety 2023 show in San Antonio, Texas, Shelly Meadows and Martin Franchi of Navigation Consulting & Training (NavCT) offered insights into what safety managers can do to help their workers\u2014and their companies\u2014deal better with workplace stress. As with everything else, senior management at companies tend to respond to problems when there are dollar signs attached, so Meadows and Franchi suggest safety professionals learn to make a strong business case for dealing with stressed employees.<\/p>\n

\u201cOrganizations that implement psychological health and safety strategies usually perform better in all key performance categories: from health and safety to human resources, key performance indicators, and shareholder returns,\u201d they explained. To get senior leaders to pay attention, emphasize that a workforce that feels psychologically safe is a characteristic of organizational excellence. Bottom-line benefits from such a workforce include improved productivity, organizational effectiveness, worker engagement and morale, discretionary effort, recruitment and retention, and creativity and innovation.<\/p>\n

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And that\u2019s not all, according to the NavCT consultants. Companies will also see reductions in turnover, absenteeism and presenteeism; workplace conflicts and grievances; disability and injury rates; worker\u2019s comp premiums; and recruiting and training costs.<\/p>\n

Some ways companies can address mental health in the workplace include:<\/p>\n