Stress at Work

Stress appears last fifteen years as one of the major risks of organizations and businesses to do with: an employee in five European suffer from health problems related to work stress. Ways to prevent stress at work exist. The collective approach to prevention is to be preferred because it is more effective over time. It is to reduce sources of stress in the company by acting directly on the organization, working conditions, social relations of work and / or workstation. Stress has become a concern for the company since the complaints of "ill-being at work” are increasing and when the factors are related to the work (work intensification, many pressures, demands for Customer ...). Stress is not, in this case, the developer of individual frailties but the manifestation of more general shortcomings in the company.

Many different things can cause stress:
 From physical (such as fear of something dangerous)
 From emotional (such as worry over the family or job)
 by overwork
 anxiety about exams
 money, job security
 unemployment
 such as being promoted at work
 going to a new school
 moving to a new house
 getting married: are all a source of stress.

3.4 million Europeans currently suffer a major depression and mental health problems.

1. Factors of stress at work

a) The principle sources of stress at work are:

 Interdependence between a person’s task and the tasks of others
 Role demand – the particular role that a person plays in the firm can be a factor of stress too. Role conflicts create expectations that may be hard to satisfy.
 Organizational structure – excessive rules and lack of participation in decision that affect an employee are some potential sources of stress.
 Organizational leadership – some executive officers establish unrealistic pressures.
 Individual factors – problems with the family, partners, diseases.
 Psychological and physical violence at work: aggressive management