On our fortnightly HSE Bulletin this week, we bring you a Q&A Session with an expert, Dr. Muktar A. Gadanya, on Job-related Stress.

Dr. Gadanya, MFR is a Public Health Physician and a Lecturer at the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital/Bayero University, Kano. He has variously provided health promotion services to organizations, and the general public, through media houses like BBC, Voice of America, Deutsche Welle, NTA and Freedom Radio. He is a member of the Emir of Kano Muhammad Sanusi II Committee on Health. He is a Member of the Order of Federal Republic, Global Youth Actionnet Fellow and an Associate Fellow of Nigeria Leadership Initiative.

Enjoy the Interview

Q: What is job related stress?

A: These are stretches (real or perceived) beyond the physical and mental resilience (coping ability) of workers that arise from work and work demands, and can bring about changes in their performance, well being, mood and general health. Moderate stress has some benefits in enhancing performance and reaching deadlines; however, when stress is excessive, it leads to job related stress, which has effect on performance, inter-personal relationship, general health and job-related accidents and injuries.

Q: What are the causes of job related stress?

A:  The most widely recognized causes of Job-related stress are

a.      Improper planning: this can arise from inadequate time allocation for the job, or delay in commencement of activity due to procrastination that leads to excessive accumulation of workload towards the deadline.

b.      poor ergonomics that leads to physical and mental drain on workers

c.       improper fit between assigned tasks and skills of the worker

d.      difficult interpersonal relationship between co-workers

e.      extreme environmental factors like fringes of temperature (too hot or too cold, too humid or too dry etc)

f.        background physical and mental health of the worker

g.      looming deadlines

Q: What are the signs and symptoms of work-related stress?

A: The signs and symptoms can be varied and are often multiple, and can include:

1. Excessive tempers that leads to clashes with co-workers and customers/clients
2. Recurrent medical ailment and work absenteeism
3. Being prone to accidents and  job related-injuries
4. Declining productivity and performance, leading to loss of job or lack of career progress
5. Personal and family problems
6. Can lead to drug abuse
7. Can lead to anxiety and depression
8. A worker can experience declining appetite, poor sleep, persistence feeling of impending crisis (arising from anxiety), lack of concentration, inability to meet set targets, feeling of being persecuted and being unliked, excessive tiredness, feeling of worthlessness, unexplained body pains, lack of satisfaction with job and excessive tendency to resort to "chemical crutches" like sleeping pills and drugs to increase arousal during day time.

Q. How can job related stress be prevented?

A. Prevention is by

1.      careful planning and allocation of time to tasks not leaving a job undone until the last minute

2.      proper fit of task and skills by workers

3.      improved interface between workplace, tools and workers (ergonomics)

4.      Regular medical check-up and early seeking of medical care

5.      Improving work and social life balance

6.      Increased physical activity especially for those with sedentary lifestyle and sedentary work; this is most important for senior managers and executives

7.      Regular and balanced meals, as low glucose level in the blood (i.e. hypoglycemia) can lead to poor performance, accident proneness and tension with co-workers

8.      Optimizing one's weight as obesity is linked to poor sleep and difficulty performing work task during the day

9.      continuous self development and learning on the skills required for the job

Q. How can this be treated?

A: The best methods of treatment for Job-related stress are

1. Health Education of  workers about the causes, effects and ways to address job related stress
2. getting adequate exercise, rest and nutrition
3. Early seeking of help for stress related problems
4. Treating underlying cause of the job related stress- like physical or mental ill health
5. Creating good balance between work and leisure
6. Interpersonal communication training of workers to engender smooth social working environment