WELLBEING IN THE WORK PLACE
There is no single level of stress that is optimal for all people, we are all unique. What would put a person under stress with physiological and psychological impact will differ greatly between us, as will our own resilience to be able to bounce back.
in the Workplace
MANAGING FOR WEALTH & HEALTH IN THE WORKPLACE
BOOSTING RESILIENCE & REDUCING WORKFORCE STRESS
For the first time work related stress is the No 1 cause of long term absence and it causes more days off work than any other reason. (CIPD / Simply Health Management Survey 2011)
FACT – 1 in every 4 persons will have at some time in their life a mental health challenge.
There is no discrimination in who may be affected; it could be you, it could be me or someone very close to you at home or at work. The chances are you already know of someone has who suffered already, perhaps even yourself, and stress is a major contributing factor.
As a positive influence, stress and pressure (often confused) can help galvanise us into action! It can bring awareness and exciting new perspectives and possibilities.
As a negative influence chronic stress plays a role in many health conditions, anxiety, anger, withdrawal and depression which can lead to minor and major health issues from headaches, digestive disorders, muscular aches and pains, ulcers, insomnia, high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, cancer and the list goes on; it can also lead to much more serious and debilitating psychotic mental health disorders if not addressed in the earliest of stages. In essence stress can eat away at a person mentally, physically and emotionally!
We are never going to remove all elements that can cause stress, the lives and roles we lead, managing uncertainties and change, the challenges, opportunities and the complexities of work and business all have an impact. What is advisable is to become better equipped in recognising the early warning signs of stress in ourselves and in others and take positive corrective steps, and build psychological resilience.
It is worth remembering that stress in itself is not an illness, it is a state. The skill is to be aware and manage our stress as early as possible before it turns into something much more difficult to address, with longer term impact.
What is Stress? – a disturbance created within you by your response to a situation or activity, it could be internal or external; caused by an abnormal demand or your ability and or capacity to adapt.
The HSE definition – “the adverse reaction people have to excessive pressure or other types of demand placed upon them”.
What is Psychological Resilience? – refers to the idea of an individual’s tendency to cope with stress and adversity. This coping may result in the individual ‘bouncing back’ to a previous state of normal functioning, or using the experience of exposure to adversity to produce a ‘steeling effect’ and function better than expected (much like an inoculation gives one the capacity to cope well with future exposure to disease). Resilience is most commonly understood as a process, and not a trait of an individual.” (Wikipedia)
The fact that resilience is a process and not a trait of the individual means that it can be learned. Resilience is about behaviour and it provides choices for us in how we may respond to our own stress triggers.
Legislation demands that employers do have a duty of care for employees to effectively manage their activities to reduce stress at work. The workplace is an ideal place to increase the knowledge and understanding in individuals about how they can help themselves to remain in good mental health by making informed decisions about the choices handling of situations, with options of stress relievers and resilience builders.
HSE report that 2009/2010 an estimated 1.3 million people who had worked in the last 12 months suffered from ill health which they thought was work related. Just under half a million employees reported they were suffering from stress, depression or anxiety brought on by their work and work place. A review of work related cases registered by GP’s concluded that mental ill health gave rise to more working days lost to employers than musculoskeletal disorders.
28
www.windenergynetwork.co.uk
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148