August 16, 2018

When it comes to workplace safety, taking care of your well-being is a critical component to safe job performance. Stress can cause hormonal, respiratory, cardiovascular and nervous system changes. This can affect an employee's outlook and focus. It can even lead to illness or an injury. Keep reading to learn about the three types of stress, how you can manage stress and what you can do as an employer to help your employees.

Types of stress

There are three types of stress: acute, episodic and chronic stress. Acute stress is the most common type. This is the body's immediate reaction to a new challenge, event or demand. It triggers your fight or flight response, which isn't always bad.

Isolated episodes of acute stress should not have any lingering health effects. In fact, they might be healthy for you, as these stressful situations give your body and brain practice in developing the best response to future stressful situations.

Episodic stress is when acute stress happens frequently. People who always seem to be having a crisis tend to have episodic acute stress. They are often short-tempered, irritable and anxious. If stress has reached this level, there is cause for concern and it's important to figure out ways to control it.

If acute stress isn't resolved and begins to increase or lasts for long periods of time, it becomes chronic stress. This stress is constant and doesn't go away. Chronic stress can be detrimental to your health, as it can contribute to several serious diseases or health risks.

Common causes of workplace stress

Heavy workloads, long hours, poor management, dangerous working conditions and a poor social environment can contribute to workplace stress.

A heavy workload is a major cause of stress for many people. Excessively high workloads can make people feel rushed, under pressure and easily overwhelmed.

Working long hours can cause constant fatigue that leaves the body and mind more susceptible to feeling stressed out.

Poor management can cause stress for many reasons. When management is out of touch with staff, employees may not have a good understanding of their expectations, and they may feel undervalued or insecure.

Dangerous working conditions can contribute to workplace stress. This could be heightened if an incident or a close call occurs, and there is no investigation or communication about hazard control. If it is severe enough, it could even lead to mental health problems, such as post-traumatic stress disorder.

Lack of support is another common cause of workplace stress. This could be a lack of support from management, coworkers or even family or friends outside of the office. A poor social environment at work can cause a lot of stress. Feeling left out or like someone is mad can weigh heavily on people.

Support can come in many forms. It can be as simple as having a coworker that can listen to you or getting the right resources to do your job.

Effects on job performance

Stress has effects on our personal health and well-being, but it also affects our job performance and work relationships.

When people feel stressed, they often have poor time management and decreased productivity. It can be difficult to prioritize, organize and maintain focus when you feel stressed.

Stress can easily cloud your judgement and lead to poor decision making or an erratic thought process. Feeling stressed can also affect relationships at work, especially if someone is more irritable or anxious under stress.

Additionally, stress can have negative consequences on your health. Headaches, muscle pain, chest pain, fatigue, upset stomach and problems sleeping are common symptoms. It's been shown that constant stress can increase the risk of more severe health issues like a heart attack or diabetes.

Healthy coping strategies

To cope with stress at work, focus on identifying your stress triggers. For a week or two, record the situations, events and people causing you to have a negative physical, mental or emotional response. Include a brief description of each situation and document details like location, individuals involved and your reaction. Use the triggers to think through each situation and find a way to change the circumstance.

Improving time management, making healthy choices, establishing work-life boundaries, receiving support and getting enough sleep can help you prevent stress.

Try using these tips below to improve your time management:

• Set realistic goals for your work. Work with colleagues and leaders to set expectations and deadlines that work for all parties. Set regular progress reviews and adjust your goals as needed.
• Make a priority list. Prepare a list of tasks and rank them in order of priority. Throughout the day, scan your master list and work on tasks in priority order.
• Protect your time. For an especially important or difficult project, block time to work on it without interruption. Try breaking large projects into smaller steps to focus on one thing at a time.

Instead of attempting to fight stress with fast food or alcohol, try to make healthy choices when you feel the tension rising. Exercise is a great stress-reliever. When stress is mounting at work, try to take a quick break and move away from the stressful situation. Taking a stroll can help you regain your balance. For maximum stress relief, incorporate at least 30 minutes of activity into most days.

Establish some work-life boundaries by making a rule not to check email from home in the evening, or not answering the phone during dinner. Making time for hobbies and your favorite activities can help with work-life harmony, and recharge you mentally when away from work.

Getting support is very helpful to improving your stress levels. Accepting help from trusted friends and family members can improve your ability to manage stress.

Getting enough quality sleep is important for effective stress management. Build healthy sleep habits by limiting your caffeine intake late in the day and minimizing stimulating activities at night, such as computer and television use.

Employer responsibilities

Healthy employees are typically more productive, which is an incentive to foster a work environment that promotes employee well-being. Start by talking with your employees or your own supervisor.

Open dialogue may help you and your management team know what needs to be communicated to employees, so that they know what resources are available to them. This can give you the opportunity to set clear expectations, check-in with employees about their workload. It also gives employees a chance to ask for support and address their concerns.

Train your supervisors on the indicators of stress. It's important that management recognizes work-related stress as a significant safety and health issue.

Exercise and a healthy lifestyle are extremely important when it comes to combating work-related stress, and as an employer you can help cultivate a healthy culture in the workplace. Wellness programs, such as paying for a portion of employees' gym memberships or running healthy eating challenges, are a good way to incorporate healthy choices and comradery at the workplace. Also, maintain a strong vacation policy and encourage employees to take their allotted time off.

Sometimes people just need 15 minutes to relax, re-group and disengage from technology and general work-related interactions. If your workspace allows, consider providing a quiet room where employees can spend 15 minutes with their thoughts. After taking a short break free from distractions, people often feel refreshed and re-energized to tackle the rest of the day. If you can, provide comfortable seating and paint the walls a neutral color - a pleasant environment is good for boosting happiness.

A major stress inducer, particularly for women, is stringent working hours. Allowing employees to work remotely, or even on a flexible time schedule is proven to be good for morale and thus profitability. Not only are you showing your employees that you trust them by allowing them to manage their own time, but you are also taking away added stress, such as child care considerations.

Educate your personnel on conflict resolution techniques and ensure your HR department can assist with difficult work situations. Workplace bullying should never be tolerated under any circumstance.

To recap, stress can be caused by an unhealthy work environment and negatively impact employees' job performance and work relationships. Managers can help support a healthy work-life balance by checking in with employees and encouraging healthy activities. As an employer, you can make sure your company is equipped with the right resources for your employees to manage stress and get the support they need. For more tips on preventing stress in the workplace, watch our recent webinar.