Research Articles Base: Coping Mechanisms

Reducing the Impact of Stress in the Workplace

Stress in the workplace often happens. It is a common problem among workers in various parts of this world. According to Elkins and Tenney (1997) stress is defined as the pressure, tension, or excess strain and its profound effects on the mental and physical health support that fact that we live in a high stress world. Aside from stress, fatigue also occurs in a number of workers in the work place. According to Cercarelli and Ryan (1996) fatigue involves a diminished ability for work and possibly decrements in attention, perception, decision making and skill performance. In addition, Hancock and Verwey (1997) defined fatigue as an individual’s multi-dimensional physiological-cognitive state associated with stimulus repetition which results in prolonged residence beyond a zone of performance comfort. Stress and fatigue in the workplace could be due to a number of factors. The work environment could contribute to the physical or mental pressure that the employee feels. Furthermore, poor lifestyle choices could also be partly responsible for the fatigue and stress that a worker feels.             This paper examines the fatigue in the work place. A discussion on the issues of sleep and stress cause by poor lifestyle choices will be given in this paper. Moreover, fatigue management techniques and the impact on a person with fatigue both at work and home will also be discussed. Stress             According to the Occupational Safety and Health Service (2003) stress in the workplace is the outcome of the interaction between the individual and the work place. For the worker it is the knowledge that he or she is not able to cope up with the demands in his or her job together with the negative emotional response. What are the causes of stress to an individual particularly the worker?             Stress can either come within the work place or outside the work place. Stress in the workplace includes pressure to finish the task, different shifts, physical factors in the work environment such as noise, heat or cold, unrealistic deadlines. Stress outside the work environment involves family problems, second job, poor physical and mental health, and poor lifestyle choices. What are the symptoms and signs of stress?             According to the Occupational Safety and Health Service (1998) there are two forms of symptoms of stress in the workplace and these are the personal and the organisation symptoms. Personal Symptoms- personal symptoms are divided into four categories and these are physiological, behavioural, cognitive, and emotional.             Physiological- symptoms include increase in the blood pressure, pains in the chest, palpitations of the heart, hyperventilation, headaches, gastro-intestinal disorders, sleep disorders, and fatigue.             Behavioural- symptoms include poor patterns of sleep, decreased in the reaction times, and erratic behaviour.             Cognitive- symptoms include difficulty in concentrating on the job and memory, and the inability to make decisions.             Emotional- symptoms include depressed mood states, anxiety, irritability, and loss of self-confidence. Organisation symptoms- transforming the factors that contribute stress in the workplace may produce more productive results that focusing on the personal factors. Just like the personal symptoms it is also divided into categories and these are behavioural and emotional.             Behavioural- symptoms include the high level of absenteeism or sick leave, high turnover of staff, poor industrial relations, poor productivity and quality, increased in the rates of illness and accidents in the workplace, increased in the claims of stress by the workers, as well as, retirement rates.             Emotional- symptoms include having low moral and loss of contribution of the employees in the planning and the process of improvement in the workplace.             Due to stress caused by fatigue and poor lifestyle choices the performance of an individual in the workplace could be greatly affected in a negative way. Stress occurs whether the person is employed in a white collar job or blue collar job, according to the study of Jones (1999) there is little difference between the individuals working in a white collar job and blue collar job in terms of the signs and symptoms of stress such as depression, satisfaction in life, and physiological complaints.             The Australian Chamber of Commerce (1990) have grouped four categories of work-related stress and these are: <ul style="margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in" type="disc"> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Work load- wherein the tasks could either be too much or too little and too difficult or too easy. </li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Work conditions- wherein there is poor organisational structure in the company, too much politics in the work place, the design of the job is not good, poor organisational culture, and the management has low control over the work of the employees. </li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Work patterns- the patterns of job in the workplace could also contribute to the stress of the employee, patterns include shifts in the time of work, and repetition of tasks.</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Work roles- the role of the worker in the job also adds to the stress especially if the roles are ambiguous, the demand of the job could emerge conflicts within or outside the workplace, and disagreement on the commitment with personal acquaintances and the job. </li> </ul> According to Dullard (2001) exposure of individuals to the stressors in the environment particularly the workplace does not inevitably cause serious health problems in people. Even though stress may co-exist with feelings of emotional distress, and may notably affect the well-being of an individual, it does not necessarily lead to a serious psychological and physiological disorder. Minimal stress is also important in the work because without stress workers may find that their task in the workplace will be boring and their performance suffers because they will feel unmotivated. On the other hand, if there is too much stress in the work place the individual’s performance in his or her job will suffer greatly and can even interfere in his or her actions. Due to stress Miller and Smith (1997) stated that the American industry loses 0 billion annually because of the lost hours in absences of the employees, and the decrease in the productivity and efficiency of the workers.  Fatigue             Fatigue is the state of the muscle, and viscera or central nervous system of an organism, wherein it has prior physical activity and mental processing, but in the absence of enough rest, the outcomes would be insufficient capacity of the cells in the body to sustain the original level of activity by utilisation of the normal resources in the body (Hancock and Desmond, 2001). There are two types of fatigue the central and the peripheral: Central Fatigue- Coccheto (2004) defined central fatigue as fatigue in the central nervous system which occurs in the large portion of the intercerebral control circuits that is due to the repression in the level of voluntary exciting that are subdued in numerous motor units to the level of voluntary neuromuscular junctions and the firing frequency. In addition, according to Gandevia (2001) the central part to fatigue is described as the decrease in the neural drive or nerve-based motor command in the working muscles wherein the outcome in the decline in the output of the force. Peripheral Fatigue- according to Chaudhuri and Behan (2004) peripheral fatigue a disorder in the neuromuscular junction transmission and metabolic disease that is due to fatigability of the muscles wherein it is characterised by the failure to maintain the force during contraction of the muscles.   Physiological bases of Fatigue             Fatigue has a number of physiological bases, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Service the following bases are the physical exertion, sleep disruption, circadian disruption, domestic and social factors. Physical Exertion- according to Grandjean (1988) it is a common source of fatigue wherein the level of fatigue depends on the frequency and length of application of the forces in the muscles, as well as the nature of work. In addition, Grandjean stated that physical exertion could be measured in many ways like electromyography, measuring the oxygen consumption, and counting heartbeats. The level of fitness of the worker plays an important role in the degree of fatigue that he or she experienced in the workplace. If a worker is not physically fit to perform in jobs that need a great amount of physical effort like manual labour, he or she will experience a tremendous amount of fatigue due to physical exertion. Furthermore, if a worker is not disciplined enough to take care of his or her health then fatigue could be easily felt by the worker. Sleep Disruption- according to Caskadon and Roth (1991) in order to sustain the alertness of an individual in the work place, he or she needs a specific amount of sleep, however individuals have different needs in sleep and the factors that contribute to these differences are not yet well understood. Moreover, Caskadon and Dement (1981) discussed that if an individual have reduced his or her time of sleep by one hour it could cause increase in the level of sleepiness and can even lead to severe outcomes if it continues. Roth, Roehrs, Caskardon, and Dement (1994) stated that the quality of sleep and its continuity is a significant factor that could affect the consecutive alertness and performance of a worker. Sleep is very important to all individuals because lack of sleep will lead to stress and fatigue in the workplace. If an individual chooses to sleep late or not sleep at all, the result will be devastating because he or she will either be absent on the work or go to work but have a bad performance. According to Akerstedt (1991) there are three aspects in the work schedule of an individual that could disrupt sleep and these are: ·        Longer hours in the workplace ·        The hours of job is irregular ·        And working in schedules that require people to work even though they should be asleep. Circadian Disruption- according to Dijk and Czeiler (1995) the circadian biological clock is the part of the body that efficiently programmes people to sleep during night time and be awake during the day. Moreover, it is the one that relates the daily cycle that lives in the functions of the physiology and behaviour of the body and synchronises with the cues of time in the environment.  Dijk and Czeisler (1994) stated that the time and quality of sleep of an individual relies on his or her circadian clock. And an individual that is not able to adapt his or her circadian clock to shifting work schedules could degrade the efficiency and productivity of his or her performance which can lead to stress and fatigue in the workplace. Poor lifestyle choices could also contribute to the incomplete adaptation of the circadian clock, an example if the employee’s schedule was changed from dayshift to night shift and does not gain enough sleep during day time to adjust his or her circadian clock, then most likely he or she will eventually get stress. Domestic and Social Factors- when a worker changes schedule due to shifts in the work place, they face challenges in incorporating their patterns of work with his or her activities in life. In the case of workers in the night shift, most of them are unable to socialise with their relatives and friends, do the work in the house, or even performs social activities such as shopping and watching a movie because he or she must rest and gain enough sleep to perform his or her job at night. The inability to do the activities could eventually cause stress and fatigue to the worker because once in a while he or she needs these activities to keep himself or herself from the stress in the work place and if the worker is unable to do that most probably he or she will succumb to the pressures of work and stress. Causes of Stress             According to the Transportation Research Board (2005) workers such as the transportation equipment operators experience fatigue and stress due to the following reasons: Extended Work and Commuting Periods- most jobs especially in manual labours require longer working hours, therefore longer work hours could result to fatigue. The extension of working hours and inadequate period of sleep could result to stress and fatigue in the workplace. Work Schedules- the changing work schedules of workers also contributes to the fatigue and stress of the worker. The following are the different work schedules that contributes to fatigue and stress in the work place.             Split-Shifts- this type of work schedule could increase the possibility of the worker to be fatigue because the schedules are not conducive to gaining sufficient sleep.  When the work schedule requires employees to gain their sleep during periods that must be awake the quantity and quality of sleep greatly suffers.             Changing or Rotating Work Schedules- some jobs require frequent changes in the schedule, the different schedules could lead to transformation in the time of day wherein the workers could gain sleep that may result in inadequate levels of rest.             Unpredictable work Schedules- the unpredictable work schedules could force the workers to change their sleeping patterns which lead to low-quality of sleep. Moreover, the unpredictable schedules could also make workers wake sooner than necessary so that they could come to work on time. Lack of Rest or Nap periods during work- a number of jobs do not require workers to take naps during work, however a number of research have pointed out that planned napping by the employees could restore the alertness of the workers in the job. Sleep Disruption- disruptions in the sleep could make returning to sleep harder; studies have shown that disruption in sleep could have an adverse effect on the alertness of a worker during daytime. Inadequate Exercise Opportunities- most of the workers especially from the white collar jobs do not have enough time to exercise therefore these people have the greatest probability to be stress or fatigue, studies have shown that individuals who exercise regularly have fewer episodes of being sleepy especially in the workplace. Poor Diet- the food that people eat could be a factor in the quality of sleep an individual obtains some foods that could disrupt sleep are spicy foods which can cause heartburn during sleep that is why it must be avoided prior to bedtime, drinking alcohol could induce an individual to fragmented sleep, and drinking drinks with caffeine could delay the sleep of an individual.             Aside from the ones mentioned by the Transportation Research Board, Dullard discussed in her paper that individual factors and lifestyle of an individual or worker may contribute to stress and fatigue to. The different personality variables could also be involved in stress at work are the type A behaviour patterns, hardiness, locus of control, negative affectivity, and self esteem. These factors, according to Greenhaus and Parasuraman (1987) moderate the relationship among stressor-stress-strain, it can influence the evaluation of the environment, it can even create stressful environments, have the power to affect the range of responses to the stress and coping mechanisms. Management of Fatigue and Stress in the Workplace             Fatigue and Stress could greatly affect the performance of the employees in the workplace, therefore the management as well as the labour unions must find ways to help ease and manage stress and fatigue in the working environment. Working hours is usually one of the main reasons why most employees experience stress and fatigue in the workplace. In order to counter it government agencies create measures. An example discussed by the Australian Safety and Compensation Council (2006) is in Western Australia wherein the WorkSafe WA released a code of practice on the working hours which provides guidance in the application of risk management to fatigue in all industries. The Code is based on management assumptions that are added through prescriptive guidelines for a wide range of risk factors. The launch of the Code has been supplemented by education campaign in order to let the management of various industries understand and be aware of their responsibilities to their workers. Strategies to manage Stress in the Workplace             The management of stress and fatigue in the workplace must be done in order to avoid problems to be huge. Managing stress is important in order to cope up with the load of work in the workplace. According to Pfizer Australia (2004) strategies in coping up with stress are grouped in the following categories and these are: Direct Action Coping Strategies- wherein the person tries to counter the stressor it involves devising a plan to get out of the stressful situation or confronting the person or the situation that causes stress. Action Inhibition Coping Strategies- it is a response to stress wherein the individual does nothing from doing anything that could worsen the scenario it includes waiting for information, not responding impulsively, and waiting for other people to help cope up with the situation. Information Seeking Coping Strategies- it is appropriate to use in situations that are ambiguous. Depending on the facts obtained the response of the person could either be low or high. Intrapsychic Scoping Strategy- it includes thinking about the stressful situations in order to decrease the emotional impact, this strategy could enable the person to realise that he or she is placing too much relevance on the stressor or the result that he or she devalues the potential impact. According Kendall, Murphy, O’Neill and Bursnall (2000) the interventions in the stress management are classified into primary, secondary, and tertiary approaches. Primary Approach- in the primary approach it can be on the national level and the organisational level. Strategies that can be utilised in the national level are having legislation, monitoring systems of the government, and the active transfer of information regarding risk management in stress and fatigue in the workplace. In the organisational level, stress prevention are being implemented and discussed in the development of the organisation. Secondary Approaches- it emphasis on decreasing the impact of stress response before it worsens; approaches include training the workers to be flexible with the stressors in the workplace. Tertiary Approaches- these approaches emphasis the improvement of the determined stress condition. Kendall et al discussed that in the workplace in Australia tertiary stress approaches include case, injury, and disability management. Tertiary approaches could also include post-traumatic assistance and psychotherapy (Koompier, Cooper, and Geurts, 2000). Aside from the approaches for stress management Gertker, Popkin, Nelson and O’Neill (2002) discussed some countermeasure that workers could do in order to combat stress and fatigue in the workplace and it includes the following: Obtaining adequate sleep- researchers have agreed in an umber of studies that adults require an average of 7.5 to 8 hours of sleep every night to be alert and perform a good job in the workplace. Napping- when utilised in an appropriate manner napping can be a good strategy for supplementing inadequate sleep at night and could even improve the alertness of the worker in the job. Anchor sleep- anchor sleeping could be utilised as a coping mechanism for situations wherein a worker cannot obtain a full and continuous eight hours of sleep during night time. Anchor sleep has the benefit of stabilising the circardian biological clock of an individual.   Caffeine- it is one of the most widely used countermeasures for fatigue usually drinking coffee, it has the advantage of breaking the routine in the job that causes fatigue and stress. Good sleeping environment- a good sleeping environment is important in assuring the individual will get adequate sleep. The environment should be quiet and dark and the temperature must be approximately 65°F. Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

Reducing the Impact of Stress in the Workplace

Stress in the workplace often happens. It is a common problem among workers in various parts of this world. According to Elki...

OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY – FATIGUE MANAGEMENT

Fatigue Management Techniques: Reducing the impact of stress in the workplace             Stress in the workplace often happens. It is a common problem among workers in various parts of this world. According to  (1997) stress is defined as the pressure, tension, or excess strain and its profound effects on the mental and physical health support that fact that we live in a high stress world. Aside from stress, fatigue also occurs in a number of workers in the work place. According to   (1996) fatigue involves a diminished ability for work and possibly decrements in attention, perception, decision making and skill performance. In addition,  (1997) defined fatigue as an individual’s multi-dimensional physiological-cognitive state associated with stimulus repetition which results in prolonged residence beyond a zone of performance comfort. Stress and fatigue in the workplace could be due to a number of factors. The work environment could contribute to the physical or mental pressure that the employee feels. Furthermore, poor lifestyle choices could also be partly responsible for the fatigue and stress that a worker feels.             This paper examines the fatigue in the work place. A discussion on the issues of sleep and stress cause by poor lifestyle choices will be given in this paper. Moreover, fatigue management techniques and the impact on a person with fatigue both at work and home will also be discussed. I. Stress             According to the  (2003) stress in the workplace is the outcome of the interaction between the individual and the work place. For the worker it is the knowledge that he or she is not able to cope up with the demands in his or her job together with the negative emotional response. What are the causes of stress to an individual particularly the worker?             Stress can either come within the work place or outside the work place. Stress in the workplace includes pressure to finish the task, different shifts, physical factors in the work environment such as noise, heat or cold, unrealistic deadlines. Stress outside the work environment involves family problems, second job, poor physical and mental health, and poor lifestyle choices.   (2007) have reported that about 40% of workers have reported that their job is stressful, 25% stated that their job is the no. 1 stressor, ¾ of employees believe that the workers nowadays have more stressful jobs than the prior generations, and 29% of workers felt extremely stressed at the workplace. In addition,  (2001) have identified that 80% of workers feel stress on the job and 25% felt like shouting and screaming due to job stress. II. Signs and Symptoms of Stress              (1998) identified two forms of symptoms of stress in the workplace and these are the personal and the organisation symptoms. Personal Symptoms- personal symptoms are divided into four categories and these are physiological, behavioural, cognitive, and emotional.             Physiological- symptoms include increase in the blood pressure, pains in the chest, palpitations of the heart, hyperventilation, headaches, gastro-intestinal disorders, sleep disorders, and fatigue. (1998) cited that 96% of social workers stated that their job is stressful and 58% have felt the manifestation of physiological symptoms of stress.               Behavioural- symptoms include poor patterns of sleep, decreased in the reaction times, and erratic behaviour.             Cognitive- symptoms include difficulty in concentrating on the job and memory, and the inability to make decisions. 40% of women working in different shifts had perceived that they experience cognitive behavioural effects of fatigue ( 2002).             Emotional- symptoms include depressed mood states, anxiety, irritability, and loss of self-confidence. Organisation symptoms- transforming the factors that contribute stress in the workplace may produce more productive results that focusing on the personal factors. Just like the personal symptoms it is also divided into categories and these are behavioural and emotional.             Behavioural- symptoms include the high level of absenteeism or sick leave, high turnover of staff, poor industrial relations, poor productivity and quality, increased in the rates of illness and accidents in the workplace, increased in the claims of stress by the workers, as well as, retirement rates. According to  (2006) 55% percent of Americans have reported that they are stressed at work and 25% of Americans miss 16 days of work due to stress.             Emotional- symptoms include having low moral and loss of contribution of the employees in the planning and the process of improvement in the workplace.               Due to stress caused by fatigue and poor lifestyle choices the performance of an individual in the workplace could be greatly affected in a negative way. Stress occurs whether the person is employed in a white collar job or blue collar job, according to the study of  (1999) there is little difference between the individuals working in a white collar job and blue collar job in terms of the signs and symptoms of stress such as depression, satisfaction in life, and physiological complaints. III. Categories of work-related stress             (1990) have grouped four categories of work-related stress and these are: <ul style="margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in" type="disc"> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Work load- wherein the tasks could either be too much or too little and too difficult or too easy. </li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Work conditions- wherein there is poor organisational structure in the company, too much politics in the work place, the design of the job is not good, poor organisational culture, and the management has low control over the work of the employees. </li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Work patterns- the patterns of job in the workplace could also contribute to the stress of the employee, patterns include shifts in the time of work, and repetition of tasks.</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Work roles- the role of the worker in the job also adds to the stress especially if the roles are ambiguous, the demand of the job could emerge conflicts within or outside the workplace, and disagreement on the commitment with personal acquaintances and the job. </li> </ul> Exposure of individuals to the stressors in the environment particularly the workplace does not inevitably cause serious health problems in people ( 2001). Even though stress may co-exist with feelings of emotional distress, and may notably affect the well-being of an individual, it does not necessarily lead to a serious psychological and physiological disorder. Minimal stress is also important in the work because without stress workers may find that their task in the workplace will be boring and their performance suffers because they will feel unmotivated. On the other hand, if there is too much stress in the work place the individual’s performance in his or her job will suffer greatly and can even interfere in his or her actions. Due to stress  (1997) stated that the American industry loses 0 billion annually because of the lost hours in absences of the employees, and the decrease in the productivity and efficiency of the workers.   (2001) reported that approximately 150,000 workers in the United Kingdom have taken leave due to stress-related illness wherein the British Industry have lost an estimated £370 million a year. IV. Fatigue             Fatigue is the state of the muscle, and viscera or central nervous system of an organism, wherein it has prior physical activity and mental processing, but in the absence of enough rest, the outcomes would be insufficient capacity of the cells in the body to sustain the original level of activity by utilisation of the normal resources in the body ( 2001). There are two types of fatigue the central and the peripheral: Central Fatigue-  (2004) defined central fatigue as fatigue in the central nervous system which occurs in the large portion of the intercerebral control circuits that is due to the repression in the level of voluntary exciting that are subdued in numerous motor units to the level of voluntary neuromuscular junctions and the firing frequency. In addition, according to  (2001) the central part to fatigue is described as the decrease in the neural drive or nerve-based motor command in the working muscles wherein the outcome in the decline in the output of the force. Peripheral Fatigue- according to  (2004) peripheral fatigue a disorder in the neuromuscular junction transmission and metabolic disease that is due to fatigability of the muscles wherein it is characterised by the failure to maintain the force during contraction of the muscles.   V. Physiological bases of Fatigue             Fatigue has a number of physiological bases, according to the         the following bases are the physical exertion, sleep disruption, circadian disruption, domestic and social factors. Physical Exertion- according to (1988) it is a common source of fatigue wherein the level of fatigue depends on the frequency and length of application of the forces in the muscles, as well as the nature of work. In addition,  stated that physical exertion could be measured in many ways like electromyography, measuring the oxygen consumption, and counting heartbeats. The level of fitness of the worker plays an important role in the degree of fatigue that he or she experienced in the workplace. If a worker is not physically fit to perform in jobs that need a great amount of physical effort like manual labour, he or she will experience a tremendous amount of fatigue due to physical exertion. Furthermore, if a worker is not disciplined enough to take care of his or her health then fatigue could be easily felt by the worker. Sleep Disruption- in order to sustain the alertness of an individual in the work place, he or she needs a specific amount of sleep, however individuals have different needs in sleep and the factors that contribute to these differences are not yet well understood ( 1991). Moreover, if an individual have reduced his or her time of sleep by one hour it could cause increase in the level of sleepiness and can even lead to severe outcomes if it continues ( 1981).  (1994) stated that the quality of sleep and its continuity is a significant factor that could affect the consecutive alertness and performance of a worker. Sleep is very important to all individuals because lack of sleep will lead to stress and fatigue in the workplace. If an individual chooses to sleep late or not sleep at all, the result will be devastating because he or she will either be absent on the work or go to work but have a bad performance. According to (1991) there are three aspects in the work schedule of an individual that could disrupt sleep and these are: ·         Longer hours in the workplace ·         The hours of job is irregular ·         And working in schedules that require people to work even though they should be asleep. Circadian Disruption- the circadian biological clock is the part of the body that efficiently programmes people to sleep during night time and be awake during the day according to ( 1995). Moreover, it is the one that relates the daily cycle that lives in the functions of the physiology and behaviour of the body and synchronises with the cues of time in the environment.  (1994) stated that the time and quality of sleep of an individual relies on his or her circadian clock. And an individual that is not able to adapt his or her circadian clock to shifting work schedules could degrade the efficiency and productivity of his or her performance which can lead to stress and fatigue in the workplace. Poor lifestyle choices could also contribute to the incomplete adaptation of the circadian clock, an example if the employee’s schedule was changed from dayshift to night shift and does not gain enough sleep during day time to adjust his or her circadian clock, then most likely he or she will eventually get stress. Domestic and Social Factors- when a worker changes schedule due to shifts in the work place, they face challenges in incorporating their patterns of work with his or her activities in life. In the case of workers in the night shift, most of them are unable to socialise with their relatives and friends, do the work in the house, or even performs social activities such as shopping and watching a movie because he or she must rest and gain enough sleep to perform his or her job at night. The inability to do the activities could eventually cause stress and fatigue to the worker because once in a while he or she needs these activities to keep himself or herself from the stress in the work place and if the worker is unable to do that most probably he or she will succumb to the pressures of work and stress. VI. Causes of Stress             According to  (2005) workers such as the transportation equipment operators experience fatigue and stress due to the following reasons: Extended Work and Commuting Periods- most jobs especially in manual labours require longer working hours, therefore longer work hours could result to fatigue. The extension of working hours and inadequate period of sleep could result to stress and fatigue in the workplace. Work Schedules- the changing work schedules of workers also contributes to the fatigue and stress of the worker. The following are the different work schedules that contributes to fatigue and stress in the work place.             Split-Shifts- this type of work schedule could increase the possibility of the worker to be fatigue because the schedules are not conducive to gaining sufficient sleep.  When the work schedule requires employees to gain their sleep during periods that must be awake the quantity and quality of sleep greatly suffers.             Changing or Rotating Work Schedules- some jobs require frequent changes in the schedule, the different schedules could lead to transformation in the time of day wherein the workers could gain sleep that may result in inadequate levels of rest.             Unpredictable work Schedules- the unpredictable work schedules could force the workers to change their sleeping patterns which lead to low-quality of sleep. Moreover, the unpredictable schedules could also make workers wake sooner than necessary so that they could come to work on time. Lack of Rest or Nap periods during work- a number of jobs do not require workers to take naps during work, however a number of research have pointed out that planned napping by the employees could restore the alertness of the workers in the job. (2005) found that performance improved after longer naps. Sleep Disruption- disruptions in the sleep could make returning to sleep harder; studies have shown that disruption in sleep could have an adverse effect on the alertness of a worker during daytime. A study on the performance of anaesthetists, have shown that performance in the job is worse if their sleep has been disturbed (, 2003). Inadequate Exercise Opportunities- most of the workers especially from the white collar jobs do not have enough time to exercise therefore these people have the greatest probability to be stress or fatigue, studies have shown that individuals who exercise regularly have fewer episodes of being sleepy especially in the workplace. In a randomized investigation of 197 men and 160 women,   (1993) showed that subjects who participated in a walking/jogging aerobic program at an intensity of 60 to 73 percent of maximal heart rate (30-minute duration, 3 to 5 times per week) significantly lowered their stress scores and improved perceived self-esteem, mental outlook, and mood compared to the control subjects. Poor Diet- the food that people eat could be a factor in the quality of sleep an individual obtains some foods that could disrupt sleep are spicy foods which can cause heartburn during sleep that is why it must be avoided prior to bedtime, drinking alcohol could induce an individual to fragmented sleep, and drinking drinks with caffeine could delay the sleep of an individual.             Aside from the ones mentioned by the Transportation Research Board,         discussed in her paper that individual factors and lifestyle of an individual or worker may contribute to stress and fatigue to. The different personality variables could also be involved in stress at work are the type A behaviour patterns, hardiness, locus of control, negative affectivity, and self esteem. These factors, according to  (1987) moderate the relationship among stressor-stress-strain, it can influence the evaluation of the environment, it can even create stressful environments, have the power to affect the range of responses to the stress and coping mechanisms. VII. Management of Fatigue and Stress in the Workplace             Fatigue and Stress could greatly affect the performance of the employees in the workplace, therefore the management as well as the labour unions must find ways to help ease and manage stress and fatigue in the working environment. Working hours is usually one of the main reasons why most employees experience stress and fatigue in the workplace. In order to counter it government agencies create measures. An example discussed by the (2006) is in Western Australia wherein the        released a code of practice on the working hours which provides guidance in the application of risk management to fatigue in all industries. The Code is based on management assumptions that are added through prescriptive guidelines for a wide range of risk factors. The launch of the Code has been supplemented by education campaign in order to let the management of various industries understand and be aware of their responsibilities to their workers. ( 2005) In New South Wales   2005 was introduced to reduce fatigue among the long haul truck drivers wherein it requires the risk of harm from fatigue to the health of the driver to be assessed, controlled, and eliminated (  2005). In Queensland      in 2005 wherein it provides guidance on decreasing the damaging effects of fatigue and stress by utilising risk management principles             In        program was launched in 2003 wherein it enhances and improves the health of the driver and decrease the negative effects of fatigue in workers in the road transport.             In the Northern Territory, the        introduced in 2001 a Code of Practice on Road Transport Fatigue Management, which gives the operators the basic set of important principles that they must apply in the management of fatigue in the workplace (  2001) VIII. Strategies to manage Stress in the Workplace             The management of stress and fatigue in the workplace must be done in order to avoid problems to be huge. Managing stress is important in order to cope up with the load of work in the workplace. According to  (2004) strategies in coping up with stress are grouped in the following categories and these are: Direct Action Coping Strategies- wherein the person tries to counter the stressor it involves devising a plan to get out of the stressful situation or confronting the person or the situation that causes stress. Action Inhibition Coping Strategies- it is a response to stress wherein the individual does nothing from doing anything that could worsen the scenario it includes waiting for information, not responding impulsively, and waiting for other people to help cope up with the situation. Information Seeking Coping Strategies- it is appropriate to use in situations that are ambiguous. Depending on the facts obtained the response of the person could either be low or high. Intrapsychic Scoping Strategy- it includes thinking about the stressful situations in order to decrease the emotional impact, this strategy could enable the person to realise that he or she is placing too much relevance on the stressor or the result that he or she devalues the potential impact. The interventions in the stress management are classified into primary, secondary, and tertiary approaches (  2000). Primary Approach- in the primary approach it can be on the national level and the organisational level. Strategies that can be utilised in the national level are having legislation, monitoring systems of the government, and the active transfer of information regarding risk management in stress and fatigue in the workplace. In the organisational level, stress prevention are being implemented and discussed in the development of the organisation. Secondary Approaches- it emphasis on decreasing the impact of stress response before it worsens; approaches include training the workers to be flexible with the stressors in the workplace. Tertiary Approaches- these approaches emphasis the improvement of the determined stress condition. Kendall et al discussed that in the workplace in Australia tertiary stress approaches include case, injury, and disability management. Tertiary approaches could also include post-traumatic assistance and psychotherapy ( 2000). Aside from the approaches for stress management  (2002) discussed some countermeasure that workers could do in order to combat stress and fatigue in the workplace and it includes the following: Obtaining adequate sleep- researchers have agreed in an umber of studies that adults require an average of 7.5 to 8 hours of sleep every night to be alert and perform a good job in the workplace. Napping- when utilised in an appropriate manner napping can be a good strategy for supplementing inadequate sleep at night and could even improve the alertness of the worker in the job. Anchor sleep- anchor sleeping could be utilised as a coping mechanism for situations wherein a worker cannot obtain a full and continuous eight hours of sleep during night time. Anchor sleep has the benefit of stabilising the circardian biological clock of an individual.   Caffeine- it is one of the most widely used countermeasures for fatigue usually drinking coffee, it has the advantage of breaking the routine in the job that causes fatigue and stress. Good sleeping environment- a good sleeping environment is important in assuring the individual will get adequate sleep. The environment should be quiet and dark and the temperature must be approximately 65°F. Case Studies             (2006) discussed some of the case studies in fatigue in the workplace and these are: Fatigue Analysis of Shiftwork Scheduling In a global forestry company in Canada, the management want to determine if their shiftwork schedules have the probability of inducing mental fatigue. After analysis of the data the human resource department have identified that the shiftwork schedules contribute to excessive fatigues. The company developed implemented new policies such as prohibiting driving after 17 hours of work.             In air Canada’s Pilot Union the group asked for analysis of fatigue for the layover schedule on Vancouver to Hong Kong Flights, after utilising the actigraph technology and FAST modelling the result revealed that an 18 hour layover have the least amount of fatigue. Development of a Napping Strategy             The Richmond Hospital in Canada allows their nurses to take naps during night shifts. The human resourced department of the hospital is determining the best time to take a nap to decrease fatigue during night shifts. Napping for 20 minutes is not enough therefore recommendation were made to enhance napping and sleeping at work. References: Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY – FATIGUE MANAGEMENT

Fatigue Management Techniques: Reducing the impact of stress in the workplace Stress in the workplace often happens. It is a...

INTERACTIVE METHODS

Pilot Study: The Impact of Vegetarianism and Meat Eating on Health   Introduction             Measuring the impact of vegetarian and meat eating on health involves the consideration of health indicators in the questionnaire in order to determine the overall health status of vegetarian and meat eating people as basis for comparison. Overall health status covers the physical and mental or psychological aspects of people. Questionnaire Design [See Appendix for the Questionnaire]             The questionnaire covers four parts. The first part seeks to determine the independent variables surrounding the food intake preferences of the participants such as name, which is optional, age, gender and economic status. The last three variables provide a very important context to the food diet of the research participants since these could indicate the propensity of people to prefer vegetarianism to eating meat as part of daily diet. These variables could also explain similarities and differences in the answers provided by the research participants.             The second part involves the lifestyle characteristics of the research participants. This includes questions on the possible habits of the participants such as smoking, drinking and substance abuse that could influence their health status regardless of their food diet preference. This part also includes the question on the food intake preferences, as either vegetarian or meat eating, together with the question of when the research participants assumed their food diet preferences. This part determines similarities and differences in the lifestyle of vegetarians and meat eaters that could indicate or explain the nature and extent of the similarities and differences among the health status of the research participants.                The third part covers the physical health of the research participants. Physical health is measured through their current weight, records of hospitalization or treatment for injuries and illnesses, and the physical activities engaged in by the participants. This part also asks the research participants about the specific injuries or illnesses that caused the need for hospitalization or treatment. These follow-up questions determine whether the injuries or illness sustained are diet related or not. Another follow-up question on the type of physical activity and the extent of engagement in the physical activity of the research participants to determine their level of health based on the assumption that greater levels of health allows people to engage more extensively in their choice of physical activities.             The fourth part covers the mental or psychological health of the research participants. This portion covers questions on the self-rating of health status, self-esteem linked to health status, self-rating of level of stress, and the perceived level of stress coping mechanisms. These questions are designed to determine the manner that the research participants view themselves in relation to their food diet preference. The self-rating questions allow the researchers to determine the extent of the personal outlook of the individuals about themselves as linked to their food intake. The questions on stress offer the researchers to gain insight into the nature of the relationship between food intake and psychological health.  Population Parameters             Population of the study comprise university students. However, since there is no available statistics on the ration of vegetarian students relative to the meat eating population, there is initial need to determine the number in order to derive a representative research population in case of a sizable number or tap them as research participants in case of a limited number of vegetarians on campus. The final number of research participants in the actual study, comprised of an equal number of vegetarian and meat eating students, would depend upon the number of vegetarian people surveyed to be enrolled in the university. The pilot study determines two things, one is the population of the final study and the other is the viability of the health status questionnaire.             It would be impossible to float questionnaires to the whole university population due to the number of students enrolled. However, in order to gain high degrees of representation from different student groups and a wide scope of test population, the pilot questionnaire was floated randomly in the different colleges and departments. Overall, the researchers randomly floated 1000 pilot questionnaires all over campus. Normally, the pilot study population comprise a representative portion of the final pool of research participants. However, to achieve the goal of the pilot study of determining an estimate of the number of the vegetarian students on campus, the number pilot study participants are greater that the final research participants.               Initially, the random sampling method ( 2001), worked for the purpose of determining the final pool of research participants but in the final study purposive sampling ( 2001) was used because of the research requirement of having a selected pool of participants based on food intake preferences. Random method of selecting participants was used to determine the number of vegetarian students or the ratio of vegetarian to meat eating students in the university. The result would determine the final population for the study through the application of purposive sampling.    Pilot Study Results Questionnaire Return rate             Out of the 1000 questionnaires floated around campus, only 750 returned or returned with significant answers that the researchers could use. A 75 percent return rate for questionnaires is overall acceptable since the people who never returned the questionnaire or returned the questionnaires without relevant answers are spread throughout the different colleges or divisions. This means that the goal of achieving a wide range of respondents and representation for different student groups was still achieved. However, people who did not return the questionnaire or returned it without completing the answers could indicate something about the viability of the questionnaire.             Based on a perusal of the questionnaires with incomplete answers, majority of the questionnaires with incomplete answers lacked answers on the space provided for name. This indicates that there was hesitation or unwillingness on the part of the respondents to divulge their names most probably because of the apprehension that doing so would link their names to their answers particularly on the questions about lifestyle. This assumption is supported by the fact that most of the questionnaires without any names given also skipped on the first three questions about lifestyle, particularly on smoking, drinking and illicit drug intake habits. This implies that it would be better for the questionnaire not to ask the names of the respondents in order to allay any initial concerns about the confidentiality of the answers. It would also help if in floating the final questionnaire, respondents will first be assured of the purpose of the study and the confidentiality of the results to ensure their full cooperation. Doing these would increase the return of the questionnaires and increase the return rate for the final study. Personal Information             In considering the 750 questionnaires returned to the researchers, it was determined that in terms of gender, majority of the respondents were females with 55 percent and the remaining 45 percent comprised of male respondents. Although, there are more females than males, the distribution of respondents across the genders represents sufficient representation based on gender. With regard to age, the respondents fall under the age range of 19 to 23 years of age with 70 percent of the respondents falling under the mean age between 20 to 21 years of age. In relation to economic status, 65 percent of the respondents answered that they belong to middle class families, 20 percent answered that they are members of low income families, and the remaining 15 percent answered that they belong to upper income class families.             The results showed that with the exception of the name query, the part asking for the personal information of the respondents was able to draw socio-demographic similarities and differences across the respondent pool which is important as contextual background for the answers and as rationale for the answers in the succeeding portions. The socio-demographic trend would support and explain results of the physical and mental health status of vegetarians and meat eaters.      Lifestyle             Answers to the lifestyle portion indicate that 63 percent answered that they smoke. Out of this percentage, majority either smoke several times a month or occasionally. Although, a large percentage of the respondents smoke, majority smoke only on occasion or a few times every month. In addition, 72 percent of respondents answered that they drink alcohol. Of this percentage, majority are concentrated in the mean answers of drinking a few times a week, several times a month or occasionally. Although, most of the respondents drink alcohol, the level of intake is controlled. Moreover, 13 percent of the respondents admitted to illicit drug use. From this percentage, respondents are almost spread across the different answers but the highest percentage was attributed to illicit drug intake a few times a week followed by occasionally. This means that the extent of illicit drug intake cannot be generalized for the pilot study population. The results from these answers show that the questions were able to elicit information on the lifestyle of the respondents to draw generalization as well as the lack of basis for generalizations.             Answers to the question on food diet shows that 11.07 percent or 83 of the 750 respondents are vegetarians. This translates to a 1 in 10 ratio of vegetarian to meat eaters. In terms of the time when the vegetarian food diet was started, 79 percent of the vegetarian respondents answered that they been vegetarians since childhood implying family influence as the factor for the preference, 15 percent answered that they become vegetarians when they entered college implying the influence of peers, and the remaining 6 percent became vegetarians in high school indicating peer influence or conscious choice to loose weight. Again, the questions suffice to provide researchers with a background on vegetarianism.           Physical Health             Comparative statistics of the answers provided by vegetarians and meat eaters indicate similarities and differences. In terms of current weight, majority of vegetarians and meat eaters, fall under the average weight category but of the remaining number there is a significant number of meat eaters falling under overweight category. In terms of hospitalization for injuries, majority of vegetarians and meat eaters answered no. Out of the people who answered yes, common causes for the injuries of both vegetarians and meat eaters are slips and falls and vehicular accidents. With regard to hospitalization or treatment for illnesses, again majority of respondents answered no. Causes for hospitalization varied from diarrhoea to food poisoning to asthma but the ration for hospitalization of vegetarian and meat eater respondents weighed greater for meat eaters. With regard to physical activity, there is a significant difference between the physical activity engaged in by vegetarians and meat eaters and the extent of engagement in the activity. This portion of the questionnaire was able to determine the existence of differences in the physical health status and the extent of difference in health condition of vegetarian and meat eating respondents.   Mental/Psychological Health             Results of the answers given to the portion measuring the mental or psychological well-being of the respondents show a difference in the rating of the respondents of their current level of health. While 85 percent of vegetarians answered that they are in excellent health, only 65 percent of meat eaters believe they are in excellent health. Concurrently, there were more very satisfactory responses from vegetarians relative to meat eaters in terms of their feelings about their current health status. There were also more meat eaters rating their health status as unsatisfactory relative to vegetarians.             In terms of stress level, majority of the respondents fall under the average to high stress level category implying that vegetarians and meat eaters face similar levels of stress. In terms of the level of coping mechanism for stress, vegetarians showed a higher satisfaction over their coping mechanisms for stress relative to meat eaters with a margin of 21 percent. This means that despite the similar level of stress faced by the respondents, vegetarians significantly have higher satisfaction over their ability to cope with stress.             These results indicate that the questions were able to determine the similarities and differences in the mental health status of vegetarian and meat eater respondents. Pilot Study Observations & Interviews             Researchers observed most of the respondents answering the questionnaire on the spot. After the questionnaire has been answered, an informal interview was conducted on the time it took for the respondent to answer the question, the clarity of the instructions, clarity of the questions, objection to any questions, layout of the questions, as well as other comments.             With regard to the length of the questionnaire, it was three pages so that respondents initially had a negative reaction to the time its takes to finish the questionnaire but upon explanation that the questionnaire involves a 13 multiple choice questions with some open-ended follow-up questions, most of the respondents approached agreed to complete the questionnaire. In terms of the clarity of the instructions, there were several respondents repelled by the idea of having open-ended questions so that there was need to explain the reason for the explanations. In terms of the clarity of the questions, most of the respondents had no problem understanding the questions and answering it but there are several respondents who felt confused about questions 1 and 2 in part IV on the mental or psychological health status. In terms of any objections to answering any of the particular research questions, no respondent felt in any way offended by the questions except the hesitation to provide an answer to the questions on lifestyle because of the apprehension over the possible implications to them.               Observations and informal interviews ( 1998;  2002) of some of the respondents show the overall viability of the questionnaire in allowing the researchers to gather data on the impact of vegetarianism and meat eating to health. Conclusions & Recommendations             On the aggregate, the research questionnaire comprises a viable tool in eliciting the data requirements of the study. This is so in the sense that on the technical side, the instructions and questions were overall clear and there were also no strong negative reactions against any of the questions. Questionnaire viability was also supported by the ability of the questions to draw information from the answers given by the respondents relevant to the study.               However, there are also changes that need to be done in the questionnaire and the manner of floating the questionnaire in order to optimize viability. In relation to the questionnaire itself, the space asking for the name should be removed. In addition, question 1 and 2 in part IV on the emotional or psychological health status should be clarified. In terms of the manner of floating the questionnaire, there should be an initial briefing of respondents in order to explain the purpose of the research and the technical aspects of the questionnaire together with the assurance of confidentiality to achieve full participation from the respondents.       References                                       Appendix Health Status Questionnaire for the Pilot Study Instructions: Please fill in the blank items or place a check mark on your chosen answer in the multiple choice questions.     I. Personal Information Name Age Gender Economic Status   Instructions: Please   II. Lifestyle     1. Do you smoke? _____Yes                              _____No   If yes, how often do you smoke?   _____Everyday _____A few times a week _____Several times a month _____Occasionally _____Sparingly   2. Do you drink alcohol?                                     _____Yes                              _____No   If yes, how often do you drink alcohol?   _____Everyday _____A few times a week _____Several times a month _____Occasionally _____Sparingly     3. Do you take-in illicit drugs?                                       _____Yes                              _____No   If yes, how often do you take-in illicit drugs?   _____Everyday _____A few times a week _____Several times a month _____Occasionally _____Sparingly   4. Describe your type of food diet?   _____Vegetarian                 _____Meat Eating   5. How long have you engaged in this food diet preference?   _____Since Childhood _____High School _____College/University _____Others, please specify ___________________   III. Physical Health   1. How do you assess your current weight?   _____Extremely Underweight _____Underweight _____Average Weight _____Overweight _____Obese   2. Have you been hospitalized or treated in the past year for injuries?                                       _____Yes                              _____No   If yes, what type of injury caused your hospitalization or treatment? ________________________________________________________________   3. Have you been hospitalized or treated in the past year for illness?   If yes, what type of illness caused your hospitalization or treatment?   ________________________________________________________________   4. Do you engage in physical activities?                                       _____Yes                              _____No   If yes, what type of physical activities do you engage in?   ________________________________________________________________   If yes, how often do you engage in physical activities?   _____Everyday _____A few times a week _____Several times a month _____Occasionally _____Sparingly     IV. Emotional/Psychological Health   1. How do you rate your current level of health?   _____Excellent Health _____Good Health _____Average Health _____Low Health _____Poor Health   2.  How do you feel about your current level of health?   _____Very Satisfied _____Satisfied _____Average _____Dissatisfied _____Very Dissatisfied   What are the reasons for your answer?   _______________________________________________________________     3. How do you rate your level of stress?   _____Very Low _____Low _____Average _____High _____Very High   4. How do you rate your stress coping mechanism?   _____Very Unsatisfactory _____Unsatisfactory _____Average _____Satisfactory _____Very Satisfactory   What are the reasons for your answer?   _______________________________________________________________   Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

INTERACTIVE METHODS

Pilot Study: The Impact of Vegetarianism and Meat Eating on Health Introduction Measuring the impact of vegetarian and mea...