The Stress Series – Part One

Stress: an introduction

Stress is gaining increasing media attention and everyone has something different to say about it. On one hand, this is a positive. Stress is a growing problem and so should be getting more coverage. For many the effects of stress are serious and debilitating. However, as with anything that reaches the media's grasp, stress is open to being misinterpreted. Stress is not tangible; it doesn't have one specific cause or even specific symptoms. It differs in cause and effect depending on the person experiencing it. This ambiguity leaves the concept of stress vulnerable to the misinformation. The different views about what stress is and what causes it mean it's hard to develop effective strategies to combat it.

In this series we want to make things clearer. We'll be explaining what stress it, how its affects not just an individual but a community, what workplace prevention programs are, and how to manage and – only if necessary – dispute stress claims. The stress series will cover a lot – so stick around!

What is stress?

Stress is a generic term used to describe anything from mild irritation to severe breakdown in health. Stress in itself is not a disease, illness or injury, but a response to pressures we face in our lives.

Everyone is susceptible to stress; however, an individual's reaction to stress will vary according to their personality, age, education level, training, health, social status in the organisation and pressures faced outside workplace.

Work-related stress becomes a concern when it is so intense or sustained that it causes ill-health, psychological injury and workers' compensation claims. Stress with these effects is now being recognised as a major workplace issue with significant costs for organisations, individuals and their families.

The form of mental injury usually associated with work-related stress is called ‘psychological injury' and might include depression, anxiety, adjustment disorder and post-traumatic stress.

Effects of stress

Not all stress is harmful. Pressure can be a good motivator to work hard, and to be excited while doing something. Too much pressure, however, without a chance to calm down, can be dangerous to your health.

Symptoms of too much pressure or stress can include headaches, muscular tension, backache and/or neck ache, tiredness and sleep problems, digestive problems, increased heart rate, skin rashes, sweating and blurred vision. Stress can lead to feelings of anxiety, depression and being out of control. It has also been associated with the development of a number of physical conditions such as coronary artery disease, cancer, gastro-intestinal disorders, skin rashes, migraines and asthma.

Effects reaching beyond the individual

The stress of one worker has implications for the community around that worker as well, as relationships friends, family and colleagues are strained.

According to the UK Health and Safety Executive says work-related stress accounts for over a third of all new incidences of ill health. This amounts to a significant number working days lost due to work-related stress. Businesses pay a price too.

Issues that stem from stress take their toll on a company's payroll, and contribute considerably to sick leave, absenteeism, presenteeism, workplace relationships, customer and client complaints, higher incidence of accidents and losses in productivity.  Staff turnover is higher in high stress environments, and stress can cause workers to lose morale, leading to lower motivation and lower productivity.

Causes of stress

There is no one cause of stress. Common causes include long and inflexible working hours, poor relationships with colleagues and/or management, lack of job security, demands and expectations beyond a worker's needs and abilities, long commutes to and from work, and too much or too little responsibility.

It is generally agreed that there are two main categories for the causes of workplace stress: physical hazards and psychosocial hazards. Physical hazards include noisy or dangerous work. Psychosocial hazards involve aspects of design, organisation and management of work and its social and environmental context. Low levels of control over one's job is also a common contributor to stress.

We talk about stress in the context of return to work for several reasons. Stress can lead to mental or physical injury resulting in time off work, and there is stress associated with the process of returning to work after an absence, short- or long-term, surrounding thoughts such as ‘How will my colleagues treat me?' and ‘Will I still be able to do the job?'

Stress also forms a major part of western working culture, increasingly geared toward bigger financial returns and working employees as hard as possible.

Too much stress is not conducive to a positive working culture – the kind of culture RTW Matters is all about.


Next in the series we'll look at a work-related stress injury and the cycle of a claim, pinpointing where things can go wrong and how to stop them from happening.