Sue Shellenbarger joins LunchBreak to talk about the latest research and techniques in relieving workplace stress, such as yoga, breathing exercises and taking a walk during the workday. Photo: Associated Press.
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According to researchers workplace stress can be as bad as secondhand smoke. Harvard University Business School and Stanford University teamed up for a study published in the inaugural issue of the Behavior Science & Policy Association journal as a way to look at health policies in the workplace. Their study found that though there is much research on the books pointing to the causes of workplace stressors, workplace policies have not caught up with that research, even as health costs have increased throughout the United States.
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The effects of workplace stress has been for the most part ignored, despite the apparent need. “High job demands, economic insecurity, and long work hours” are some of the contributing factors that cause psychological harm to workers, according to the report “Workplace stressors & health outcomes: Health policy for the workplace.”
Medical News Today reports Sept. 7 that policy makers should be concerned and address workplace practices that trigger stress such as work/life balance and long work hours. According to the workplace stressors report, workers who experienced high job demands are more likely to be diagnosed with medical conditions. Job insecurity increases the instances of diagnosed conditions by about 50 percent over those who experience job security. High job demands raised physician-diagnosed illnesses by 35 percent and long work hours increased health issues by nearly 20 percent.
Researchers compared 228 studies which looked at ten workplace stressors and how they affected four different specific health outcomes. “Our objective was to analyze work stressors that affect people’s psychological and physical health and that can be reasonably addressed by either public policy or managerial interventions,” the study reads. “We focused our analysis on single stressors rather than on composites because it is usually easier for employers or policymakers to address workplace problems individually than to tackle many at once.”
Researchers compared the effects of workplace stressors with the effects of secondhand smoke exposure in order to make their findings more relatable to readers of the study. Since secondhand smoke is a known health issue, with cigarette smoke’s cancer-causing carcinogens, and since smoking has been regulated in such a way that it is only allowed in certain areas of buildings, if it is allowed at all, the health issues involved with workplace stress can be made more tangible with the comparison.
Research has found that secondhand smoke exposure increased the odds of poor health by almost 50 percent. While there has been no decisive proof that secondhand smoke also affects psychological health, some studies have suggested that tobacco smoke can induce a bad mood in some animals.
Some workplace stressors cannot be avoided, but researchers had some suggestions for employers: “Job redesigns could involve limiting working hours, reducing shift work and unpredictable working hours, and encouraging flexible work arrangements that help employees to achieve a better balance between their work life and their family life," the study reads. The study goes on to relate that if employers continue to ignore how workplace stressors affect their employees’ health instead of finding ways to reduce them, employees’ health will continually be affected and health health care costs will continue to rise.
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