~Workplace Stressors ~

NoiseRandom

High pitch

Loudness

Effects vary by factors such as:

• Type of task (e.g., concentration required)

• Individual differences

Heat (humidity)Impairs performance on both physical and mental tasks

ColdMost affects tasks requiring fine muscle movements

Impact of multiple stressors --- greater than the individual contribution of each stressor (not simply additive)

~ Work Schedules ~

• Shift work (e.g., 7-3, 3-11, 11-7)

• Increased usage• Impact of rotating shifts (forward vs. backward, days between rotations)• Length of shifts (e.g., 8 or 12 hours)

Adjustment issue, circadian rhythms

Possible consequences:

• Increased accident rate (especially nigh shift)

• Fatigue (mental and physical), Sleep disturbances

• Physiological and psychological problems (e.g., gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, negative affect)

• Social interactions

~ Work Schedules (cont.) ~

7:00 8:00 9:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 1:00 2:00 3:00 4:00 5:00 6:00

• Flextime

(Core Period)

Effects:

• Reduced tardiness

• Decreased use of short-term, unpaid absences

• More flexibility, greater level of positive outcomes

Some potential concerns/limitations:

• Supervision

• Teamwork

• Diminished positive effects across time

~ Work Schedules (cont.) ~

• 4/40 Work weekPotential benefits:

• Greater leisure time, time with family

• Allows possibility of a 2nd job

• Decreased operating costs for organizations

Especially liked by employees with low satisfaction levels, low pay, young, and in lower tier jobs

Biggest negative consequence

Fatigue

Hours Worked ---

• 23% of professionals work over 50 hours/week• 24% of managers and business owners work over 50 hours/week (Pew Research Center, 2008)• Over 37% of professional men work over 50 hour per week (Center for American Progress 2009)

On Vacation (and the role of technology): • 24 percent of employed adults check work email or voicemail while vacationing• 19% cancelled or postponed vacation plans because of work• 30% have trouble coping with stress from work during vacation • 34 percent of Americans do not use all of the vacation time (Japan: 92%!!!) (Above from Expedia.com 2009 survey of adult workers worldwide)

• More than 50% telephoned their office daily (Erase-Blunt, 2001) • 43 percent of office workers said they work on vacation (Opinion Research Corporation (survey of 650 full and part-time employees, June 2006)

• 20% of U.S. workers go to their jobs when they are ill or injured (Reiss, 2002)

~ Some Statistics ~

OECD: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development

Amount of time spent at work:

Workaholics are individuals who work at least 50 hours per week (Mosier, 1983)

The amount of discretionary time spent in work activities, thinking about work when not working, and working beyond organizational requirements (Scott, Moore, and Miceli, 1997)

“… seeking to define workaholism by counting the number of hours that a person works is both misleading and incomplete” (Peiperl and Jones, 2001, p. 373)

-- Workaholism -- What is it?

Severe Consequences ---

“ … a person whose need for work has become so excessive that it creates a noticeable disturbance or interference with his [or her] bodily health, personal happiness, and interpersonal relations, and with his smooth social functioning” (Oats, 1971)

Psychodynamic basis ---

"Work addiction is an addiction in the same way that alcoholism is an addiction. Progressive in nature, it is an unconscious attempt to resolve unmet psychological needs that have roots in the family of origin and can lead to unmanageable life, family disintegration, serious health problems, and even death” (Robinson, 2000, p. 34)

An addiction:

Spence & Robbins Workaholism Battery (Sample Items)

1 = STRONGLY DISAGREE5 = STRONGLY AGREE

• I like to use my time constructively on and off the job. • Between my job and other activities I’m involved in, I don’t have much

free time.

• I get bored and restless on vacations when I haven’t anything productive to do.

• I feel obligated to work hard, even when it’s not enjoyable.

• I often feel there’s something inside me that drives me to work hard.

• I often find myself thinking about work even when I want to get away from it for awhile.

• I lose track of time when I am engaged on a project. • Most of the time my work is very enjoyable. • Sometimes I enjoy my work so much I have a hard time stopping.

Worker Type Work Involvement

Driven to Work Work Enjoyment

Work enthusiast

Workaholic

Enthusiastic worker

Unengaged worker

Relaxed worker

Disenchanted worker

Classification of Worker Types

• High work involvement (work is a central life interest, affects one’s self-esteem, self-concept)• Driven to work because of inner pressures• Low in enjoyment of work (Spence & Robbins, 1992, p. 162)

Workaholism Risk Test (WART)

• I overly commit myself by biting off more than I can chew

• I am more interested in the final result of my work than in the process

• I find myself continuing to work after my coworkers have called it quits

• I get angry when people don’t meet my standards of perfection

• It is hard for me to relax when I am not working • I spend more time working than on socializing with friends, on hobbies, or on leisure activities

WART may possess several factors: Compulsive Tendencies, Control, Impaired Communication, Self Absorption, Inability to Delegate, and Self-Worth (Flowers & Robinson, 2002).

-- Some Correlates of Workaholism --

• Psychological problems (e.g., anxiety, burnout)

• Job stress

• Physical health complaints (e.g., heart problems)

• Satisfaction (life and work)

• Health care costs

• Family, interpersonal conflict

• Difficulty delegating work, need for control, inflexible orientation, setting unreasonable work standards, inefficient use of time (busy work)

• Problems with activities that require teamwork, distrust coworkers, fostering of competition

• Unable to enjoy leisure activities, difficulty relaxing

Work Interferes With Family (WIF)

• My work keeps me from my family activities more than I would like

• Tension and anxiety from my work life often weaken my ability to spend time with my family

Family Interferes With Work (FIW)

• Due to stress at home, I am often preoccupied with family matters at work • Tension and anxiety from my family life often weaken my ability to do my job

Work Family Conflict Scale

Some evidence of gender differences

Males: Greater FIW scores

Females: Greater WIF scores

-- Organizational Role --

• Organization values and culture may enhance workaholism

“… workaholism is the most rewarded addiction in our culture” (Spruell, 1987, p. 44)

• Organizations themselves may be considered as “workaholic”

• Organizations actively seek out candidates that possess workaholic tendencies (and workaholic employees may be attracted to organizations that foster this behavior)

• Identify employees who show a penchant for workaholism

• Organizational analysis (Is workaholism endemic to the company?)

• Reestablish work priorities, alter job schedules, and assure that workaholics leave work at designated times (Managerial role)

• Training programs (e.g., acquiring outside interests, stress management)

• Establishment of organizational values and culture that emphasize the need for better work-life balance

• Reward work-family balance

• Individual, group and/or family counseling

-- Some Recommendations --

~ Workplace Accidents ~

Extent of problem ---

• More workplace deaths in the U.S. than all wars and natural disasters combined (about 6000 deaths/year)

• About 4 million work-related illnesses and injuries/year

• Workplace injury every 8 seconds and a fatality every 2 hours

• Estimated 108.4 million in costs related to workplace accidents (National Safety Council)Some Dangerous Occupations

• Coal Mining (11/day)

• Construction (6/day)

• Meat Packing 173 accidents/day

.

: * Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor.

: * Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor.

~ Some Unsafe Work Conditions~

Photos by Lewis Hine. The Construction of the Empire State Building

General Approaches ---

• Selection (identification of those likely to engage in unsafe behaviors)

• Training Programs (e.g., practice, feedback, reinforcement, goal setting)

• Engineering (job/tool/equipment design)

Workplace Safety

Safety Posters

Safety Posters (cont.)

Supervisor’s Behavior Regarding Safety

(e.g., emphasis, discussion, rewarding, encouraging)

Physical Condition of Employees

Mental Condition of Employees

Unsafe Acts by Employees

Unsafe Work Conditions

Accidents Disabling injuries

Production delays

Equipment damage

Minor injuries

Safety Climate

On-task behaviors --- activities associated with job duties (e.g., production, quality concerns, safety adherence)

Off-task behaviors --- (e.g., interactions with co-workers, non-work-related thoughts)

Self-regulatory behavior --- the focus on one’s situation/environment (e.g., thoughts of job security)

Cognitive Resource Theory --- Employees have a given amount of mental resources available to them in the performance of a task

Safety-Related Factors

OTBQ(Off-Task Behavior Questionnaire)

The following items are examples or work related behaviors that you may engage in during the course of your work. Using the scale below, please rate the degree to which you engage in these behaviors.

Never Rarely Occasionally Often Constantly<--|----------------------|----------------------|----------------------|----------------------|-->

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5)

1. ____ I pay close attention to any error I make on my job2. _____ I focus my attention on what is going wrong3. _____ I focus my total attention on learning a new rule/procedure4. _____ I focus my attention on being ready for any changes in my work5. _____ I focus my attention to respond to any changes in my work6. _____ I think about new strategies for improving my performance7. _____ I tell myself things to encourage me to try harder• _____ I focus my attention on how fast I can finish a work task • _____ I focus my attention on how many work tasks I can complete

From: Kanter, R., Ackerman. P. L., Murtha, T. C., Dugdale, B., & Nelson, L. (1994). Goal-setting, conditions of practice, and task performance: A resource allocation perspective. Journal of Applied Psychology, 79, 826-835.

Sample Items from the Workplace Cognitive Failures Questionnaire

______ _______ _______ _______ _______ 1 2 3 4 5(never) (very often)

• Cannot remember whether you have or have not turned off work equipment?

• Fail to recall work procedures?

• Cannot remember work-related phone numbers?

• Forget where you have put something you use in your job (e.g., tools)?

• Do not fully listen to instruction?

• Do not focus your full attention on work activities?

• Throw away something you meant to keep (e.g., memos, tools)?

• Say things to others that you did not mean to say?

From: Wallace, J. C., & Chen, G. (2005). Development and validation of a work-specific measure of cognitive failure: Implications for occupational safety. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 78, 615-632.

Perceptions of job security

JobSatisfaction

Safety Knowledge

SafetyMotivation

Safety Compliance

Workplace Injuries

WorkplaceAccidents

Role of Job Security on Workplace Accidents

From: Probst, T. M., & Brubaker, T. L. (2001). The effects of job insecurity on employee safety outcomes: Cross-sectional and longitudinal explorations. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 6, 139-159.

Good Design

Shower Control

Bad Designs

Bad Designs (cont.)

What’s in the bottle?What side of the door do you

push to open?

Bad Designs (cont.)

Bad Designs (cont.)

Which button do you press to make a copy?

How do you lower the volume?

Bad Designs (cont.)

Which way do you go?Enter or not?

Bad Designs (cont.)

Which burner control do you use?

Gas pumps issues

Yikes!

Bad Designs (cont.)

Each employer shall furnish to each of his employees employment and a place of employment which are free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm

* Responsibility of employers to identify problems that the government does not identify

Occupational Health & Safety Administration (OSHA)

General Duty Clause

OSHA Inspections

Why are they conducted?

• A reported or recognized situation presenting "Imminent Danger" to the safety of employees

• Following a fatality or a catastrophic incident

• In response to employee complaints or referrals

• Programmed Inspections determined by OSHA criteria (i.e., injury rates above industry average; on the list of targeted industries)

[Recordkeeping, Accuracy of data]

1) No notification of an inspection is allowed

2) Company and an employee representative accompany the inspector

3) Inspector can enter and investigate any location within the company (is not required to go beyond the specific complaint area)

Citation contents

• Specific nature of the violation

• Penalties involved

• Abatement period (time frame to eliminate the hazard)

• Frequency of inspections (federal compliance officers)

• 2011 --- 40,648

• 2010 --- 40,993

• Number of OSHA Inspectors in 2012 --- (2,178)

Number of employees in 2012 (127,820,442) Ratio of inspectors/employees (1/58,687)

• Adequacy of fines

Serious violation average fine (e.g., willful, serious, repeat, failure to abate):

• 2011 --- $2,132,

• 2010 --- $1,053

• Cost – Benefit Assessment

• Cause and effect determination (e.g., time factor, type of injury, type of illness)

• E) Workers compensation and ability to sue

OSHA --- Some Issues

MONTCOAL, W.Va. -- A huge underground explosion blamed on methane gas killed 25 coal miners in the worst U.S. mining disaster in more than two decades.Four others were missing Tuesday, their chances of survival dimming as rescuers were held back by poison gases that accumulated near the blast site, about 1.5 miles from the entrance to Massey Energy Co.'s sprawling Upper Big Branch mine.

The mine, about 30 miles south of Charleston, has a significant history of safety violations, including 57 infractions just last month for (among other things) not properly ventilating the highly combustible methane.

West Virginia Mine EXPLOSION: Massey Energy Had A History of Safety Violations AP News 4/6/10

ABC News The federal records catalog the problems at the Upper Big Branch mine, operated by the Performance Coal Company. They show the company was fighting many of the steepest fines, or simply refusing to pay them. Performance is a subsidiary of Massey Energy. [...]

BP Cited for Worst OSHA Safety Violations Among U.S. Refiners WASHINGTON - May 17, 2010

Two refineries owned by oil giant BP account for 97 percent of all flagrant violations found in the refining industry by government safety inspectors over the past three years, a Center for Public Integrity analysis shows. Most of BP’s citations were classified as “egregious willful” by OSHA…

BP received a total of 862 citations between June 2007 and February 2010 for alleged violations at its refineries in Texas City and Toledo, Ohio. Of those, 760 were classified as "egregious willful" and 69 were classified as "willful."  Thirty of the BP citations were deemed "serious" and three were unclassified. Virtually all of the citations were for alleged violations of OSHA's process safety management standard, a sweeping rule governing everything from storage of flammable liquids to emergency shutdown systems. BP accounted for 829 of the 851 willful violations among all refiners cited by OSHA during the period analyzed by the Center.