Stress is not a disease, but it can cause mental and physical health problems if it manifests itself intensely over prolonged periods.
Working under some pressure can improve performance and bring satisfaction when challenging goals are met. Conversely, when the demands and pressure become excessive, they cause stress.
Stress can be caused by problems at work or elsewhere, or by both; furthermore, it can be caused by the way the work is organized and the tasks to be performed.
.The study shows a double risk of deaths from cardiovascular diseases in stressed workers who did not have any other risk factors for these diseases.
By now everyone agrees that at the base of work stress there is an "interaction between organizational factors and personal factors; however, let's see specifically what can be the causes of this stress according to two recent models and according to the European Commission.
and little control over the tasks to be performed. Therefore, even in the presence of a heavy workload, a worker may not feel stressed if he perceives that he can manage this load in the most appropriate way.The Imbalance between Effort and Reward Model - Effort-reward imbalance model (Siegrist J .; Peter R., 1994), hypothesizes that work stress occurs in the presence of a high commitment on the part of the worker associated with a low reward; where the term reward means economic gain, social approval, job stability and career opportunities.
Work-related stress: the main risk factors
According to the European Commission - Directorate General for Employment and Social Affairs (EUROPEAN COMMISSION, 1999), the most common factors that can determine work-related stress are:
- Excessive or insufficient amount of work to be performed;
- Insufficient time to complete the job satisfactorily for both others and oneself;
- Lack of a clear description of the work to be done or a hierarchical line;
- Insufficient reward, not proportional to performance;
- Inability to express complaints;
- Heavy responsibilities not accompanied by adequate authority or decision-making power;
- Lack of collaboration and support from superiors, colleagues or subordinates;
- Inability to effectively express personal talents or abilities;
- Lack of control or pride in the finished product of one's work;
- Job insecurity, uncertainty of the position occupied;
- Unpleasant working conditions or dangerous work;
- Chance that a small mistake or carelessness could have serious consequences.
If even one of the aforementioned conditions occurs in our work environment, we are likely to be workers under stress, with all the risks that this entails for our health. Obviously, to limit the causes of stress it would be necessary to act on both a personal and organizational level.
Edited by Dr. Stefano Casali
