Stressed

Deborah Houldlng of BMG online magazine explores the problem of work-related stress and examines ways in which it can be avoided. Stress is not an illness or a negative condition. A certain amount of pressure brings out the best in our work. In the initial stages of stress there is a sensation of excitement and increased mental concentration.However, too much stress is negative. It is bad for the individual. It is also bad for the employing organisation. In the UK. for example, stress-related illness is the cause of half of lost working days.

The negative impact of stress is linked to heart disease, alcoholism, nervous breakdowns, job dissatisfaction, certain forms of cancer, migraines, asthma, hay fever, insomnia, depression, eczema and many other medical and social problems.

Many surveys confirm the root cause of work-related stress to be bad management and overwork. Too much pressure, long hours and poor communication are the main factors. Reports and studies have identified the principal cause of stress as 'new management techniques' designed to 'improve performance'. Policies such as “performance-related pay” increase stress and demotivate a work force.

Many legal and medical experts are advising companies to consider the costs and legal implications of stress-related illness. They emphasise the benefits of reducing stress as:

• better health

• reduced sickness absence

• increased performance and output

• better relationships with clients and colleagues

lower staff turnover

Taking the decision to reduce stress makes sound business sense. It's better for profits and better for staff morale.

Managers should learn to motivate but not 40 exhaust employees. There is a balance between obtaining maximum efficiency, and a worker's need to rest and recuperate their creative energies.

Ex 20. а) Look at these sentences:

Managers should recognize their mistakes. (It's a good idea.)

Employees shouldn't work under unnecessary pressure. (It's not a good idea)

б) Make sentences that are true for you using should/shouldn't and the prompts below.

e.g. For example: work well / have a certain amount of pressure

To work well you should have a certain amount of pressure.

a companies / try / reduce the level of stress

b workers / work very long hours

c managers / communicate / ideas

d companies invest money improve conditions

e managers / learn / motivate workers

f workers have time / rest

Ex 21. Read the article about office accidents and write a report about their reasons and ways to avoid them. Lesson 6.3.2. Office Accidents

Reading

Ex 1. Study this information. Explain the words and phrases in bold.

Offices are usually considered to be fairly safe working environments, without many of the hazards associated with factories, construction sites and other workplaces where there’s a risk associated with using machinery. But every year there are a significant number of office injuries and compensation claims arising from accidents and bad working practices in offices.

Office injury claims tend to arise as a result of inadequate workstations and seating arrangements - bad ergonomic planning for desk workers - and also from trips over trailing cables and other obstacles on the floor, slipping on worn or broken steps, and injuries from inappropriate lifting.

As with all personal injury claims, if an employer has failed in a duty owed to an employee to comply with safety regulations, and to take all practical steps to ensure safe working practices and a safe workplace, and it can be proved that injuries have arisen as a result of this failure, compensation may well be recoverable for an office-based work injury claim.