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Stress and Overwork

Issue date

Embargo: 00:01 hours Tuesday 2 November 2004

Stress and overwork

This is a section taken from the TUC biennial survey of safety reps 2004. The full report will be published in November.

As in all previous TUC biennial surveys, by far the most common concern of safety reps is overwork or stress. The percentage citing stress has slightly increased to 58% in the 2004 TUC survey from 56% in the 2002 survey. The problem is significant, with over one out of two safety reps citing it as a main hazard of concern to workers. Overwork or stress accounts is 18% higher than the next most frequently cited hazard, repetitive strain injuries (40%).

The picture is similar for all different sizes of workplace, different regions/countries and most economic sectors:

  • in all sizes of workplace, the percentage citing stress or overwork is over 50%, and where there are over 1000 workers the percentage rises to 63%;

  • overwork or stress is more of a concern in the public sector (64%), than in the private sector (48%) and this represents an increase in both sectors since 2002;

  • in ten out of fourteen economic sectors, stress or overwork is the top complaint of workers. And in ten of these fourteen sectors, the percentage citing stress is consistently over 50% and goes as high as 83%;

  • in all English regions, Scotland and Wales, the percentage citing stress is over 49%, going as high as 63% in South West England.

In order to find out more about what is causing overwork or stress, the TUC survey asked safety reps identifying overwork or stress as a major problem, to state which issues were a problem at their workplaces. The 2004 survey listed the same potential causes of overwork or stress for safety reps to identify as those in the 2002 survey. Table 7 shows a comparison of the results for 2004, 2002, 2000 and 1998. There is an analysis underneath Table 7 of the results relating to each of the potential causes of overwork or stress.

Table 7: Factors linked to overwork or stress

Factor Problem issues Problem issues Problem issues Problem issues

2004 survey 2002 survey 2000 survey 1998 survey

Workloads 79% 80% 74% 60%

Cuts in staff 49% 50% 53% 60%

Change 47% 52% 44% no equivalent

Long hours 37% 41% 39% 28%

Bullying 27% 28% 30% 21%

Shiftwork 22% 22% 30% 22%

Cramped 17% 19% 16% 14%

working conditions

Redundancies 14% 12% 17% 15%

Sex or racial 3% 4% 6% 5%

harassment

Workloads

In the 2004 survey, workloads are again top of the list of problems linked with overwork or stress. The problem of workloads is far greater than it was in 1998. In 2004, four out of every five safety reps (79%) identifying overwork or stress in their workplaces, consider that workloads are a problem.

Compared to the private sector (73%), the problem of workloads is greater in the public sector (83%) and the voluntary sector (77%). For individual sectors, workloads are a particular problem identified by safety reps in:

  • Education (88%);

  • Central Government (85%);

  • Health Services, Local Government and Banking, Finance and Insurance (all 83%).

Safety reps in all sizes of workplace identified workloads as a major problem, but the worst are workplaces with between 100-200 workers (84%). Workloads are a particular problem in South West England where 86% identified them as an issue related to stress.

Cuts in staff

Staff cuts have gone up from third to second place as a main problem related to stress. Staff cuts are identified by half the safety reps (49%) in the 2004 survey, showing similar results to those in the 2002 and 2000 surveys. They are identified more often in the private sector (53%) than in the public.

For individual sectors, as in 2000, cuts in staff are a particular problem identified by safety reps in:

  • Central Government (69%); and

  • Banking, Finance and Insurance (59%).

Staff cuts are more of a concern to safety reps in:

  • workplaces with between 100 - 200 workers (51%) and over 1000 workers (55%); and in

  • London (57%) and the South East (54%).

Change

Change was identified by 47% of safety reps in 2004, falling from 52% in the 2002 survey. This was sufficient to move ‘Change’ into third place, as a problem linked to overwork or stress. It was identified more often in the public (51%) and voluntary sectors (54%) rather than the private (39%).

For individual sectors, change is a particular problem identified by safety reps in:

  • Central Government (66%); and

  • the Voluntary sector (63%).

Safety reps in all sizes of workplace identified change as a problem, with the highest concentration in workplaces with between 100-200 workers (49%) and over 1000 workers (51%). The worst regions identifying change are North West England (52%) and South West England (50%).

Long hours

The problem of long hours (37%) linked to overwork or stress has decreased by 4% since the 2002 survey, but is still 9% higher than the 1998 survey. Long hours are identified more often in the private sector (41%) and voluntary sector (44%) than in the public.

For individual sectors, long hours linked to overwork or stress are above average in:

  • Distribution, hotels and restaurants (61%);

  • Leisure services (57%);

  • Transport and Communications (52%);

  • the Voluntary sector (46%).

Long hours of work linked to overwork or stress appear to be of most concern to safety reps in workplaces:

  • with between 200 - 1000 workers (40%); and in

  • London (45%) and the South East (41%).

Bullying

According to safety reps in the 2004 survey, the problem of bullying at work linked to overwork or stress still seems to be a significant problem. The number of safety reps identifying it is just over one in four (27%). Bullying linked to stress is identified more often in the public sector (30%) and voluntary sector (29%) than in the private (20%).

Bullying is seen as an increasing problem since 2002 by safety reps in:

  • Central Government (40% increasing from 37%);

  • Local Government (37% increasing from 33%)

As shown in the TUC surveys in 2002 and 2000, bullying appears to be more of a problem as the size of the workplace increases. Thirty four per cent of safety reps from workplaces with over 1000 workers identified it as an issue linked to stress, compared with 18% in workplaces with fewer than 50 workers.

Bullying as an issue linked to stress is a particular problem in London (36%) and Wales (33%).

Shiftwork

Shiftwork is identified by 22% in the 2004 survey, the same as in 2002. Shiftwork is identified more often in the private sector (34%) than in the public.

Three individual sectors which identified shiftwork linked to overwork or stress in 2002, do so again in 2004:

  • Distribution, Hotels and Restaurants (48% - increasing from 34% in 2002);

  • Transport and Communications (43%);

  • Manufacturing (41%).

As in 2002, shiftwork is of most concern to safety reps in workplaces with between 200 and 1000 workers (28%). Wales (26%) and South East England (26%) appear to be the worst for this problem linked to stress.

Cramped working conditions

The percentage of safety reps identifying cramped working conditions is 17%, and is worse in the public sector (22%) than the private. In 2004, the percentage of safety reps mentioning cramped working conditions, linked to overwork or stress is the highest in:

  • Construction (29%);

  • Health services (28%);

  • Local government (24%);

  • the Voluntary sector (22%).

The results for cramped working conditions are worst for workplaces with over 1000 workers and are consistent for Wales, Scotland and English regions.

Redundancies

Redundancies as a problem linked to overwork or stress increased from 12% in 2002, to 14% in 2004. The problem is particularly marked in the private sector:

  • Agriculture and Fishing (42%)

  • Manufacturing (32%); and

  • Energy and Water (19%).

Redundancies are a particular problem in workplaces with over 1000 workers (19%). This compares with 9% in workplaces with fewer than 50 workers. London (23%) and North West England (17%) appear to be the worst for this problem linked to stress.

Sex or racial harassment

The percentage of safety reps mentioning sex or racial harassment linked to overwork or stress declined to 3% in 2004, compared with 6% in 2000. The percentage of safety reps mentioning sex or racial harassment is higher in the Voluntary sector (8%) and Central Government (6%). Sex or racial harassment appears to be more of a problem as the size of the workplace increases. Five per cent of safety reps from workplaces with over 1000 workers identified it as an issue linked to stress, compared with 1% in workplaces with fewer than 50 workers.

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