Workplace Stressors

1. Workplace Stressors Random High pitch Loudness • Effects vary by factors such as: • Type of task (e.g., concentration required) • Individual differences Noise Impairs performance on both physical and mental tasks Heat (humidity) Most affects tasks requiring fine muscle movements Cold Impact of multiple stressors --- greater than the individual contribution of each stressor (not simply additive)

2. 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

3. Work Schedules (cont.) • Flextime (Core Period) 7:00 8:00 9:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 1:00 2:00 3:00 4:00 5:00 6:00 • 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

4. Work Schedules (cont.) • 4/40 Work week • Potential 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

5. Some Statistics • Hours Worked --- • 13% of employees work 60 or more hours a week (BLS, 1999) • Employees in professional jobs work anywhere from 50 to 80 hours in a typical work-week • (Brenton & Largent, 1996) • Employees in the U.S. work an average of 1,979 hours a year (Reiss, 2002) • Discretionary Time --- (and role of technology) • On Vacation: • 60% of office workers admitted to taking along mobile technology • 33% check voice mail daily • 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) • 61 percent of Americans use all of the vacation time they have coming to them • 20% of U.S. workers go to their jobs when they are ill or injured (Reiss, 2002)

6. Legally Mandated Paid Leave in Europe and United States, 2000 Source: Article 7 of E.U. Directive 93/104/EC; and European Commission, Employment and Social Affairs

7. -- Workaholism -- What is it? • 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)

8. An addiction: 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)

9. Spence & Robbins Workaholism Battery (Sample Items) • 1 = STRONGLY DISAGREE • 5 = 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.

10. 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).

11. 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)

12. -- 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

13. Model of Workaholism • Organizational Factors • Culture, values, norms • Incentive systems • Workload • HR practices (e.g., EAP, • leave policies) • Social support • Perceived job security • Individual Factors •  Demographics • Personality (e.g., Type A, • neuroticism, perfectionism) • Workaholism tendencies • Coping style • Appraisal processes • Non-work social support • Dual careers • Work values • Perceived Stressors • Work-family conflict (work interferes with family, family interferes with work) •  Negative affect • Personal Outcomes •  Poor performance evaluations • Greater psychological and physical symptoms • Relationship problems, breakups • Less enjoyment of leisure, free time • Organizational Outcomes • Low job attitudes • Competition between co- workers; teamwork problems • Poor job performance • Setting unreasonable work standards • Busy work • Increased health care costs • Moderating Factors •  Role behaviors and role identities • Role border characteristics • Work and family involvement • Employee-organization value • congruence

14. -- 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)

15. -- Some Recommendations -- • 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

16. Work Family Conflict Scale • Work Interferes With Family (WIF) • My work keeps me from my family activities more than I would like • Tension and anxiety from my family life often weaken my ability to do • my job • 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 Some evidence of gender differences Males: Greater FIW scores Females: Greater WIF scores

17. Workplace Accidents • Extent of problem --- • More workplace deaths in the U.S. than all wars and natural disasters combined • Workplace injury every 8 seconds and a fatality every 2 hours • Estimated 108.4 million in costs related to workplace accidents (National Safety Council, 1999) • Some Dangerous Occupations • Coal Mining (11/day) • Construction (6/day) • Meat Packing 173 accidents/day

18. Occupation Fatalities [Per 100,000 Workers] 1. Timber cutters 117.8 2. Fishers 71.1 3. Pilots and navigators 69.8 4. Structural metal workers 58.2 5. Drivers-sales workers3 7.9 6. Roofers 37 7. Electrical power installers 32.5 8. Farm occupations 28 9. Construction laborers 27.7 10. Truck drivers 25

19. Some Unsafe Work Conditions Photos by Lewis Hine. The Construction of the Empire State Building

20. Workplace Accidents • Prevention Techniques: • Selection (Accident Proneness) • Training Programs (e.g., practice, feedback, • reinforcement, goal setting) • Engineering (job/tool/equipment design)

21. Safety Posters

22. Safety Posters (cont.)

23. Supervisor’s Behavior Regarding Safety (e.g., emphasis, discussion, rewarding, encouraging) Physical Condition of Employees Mental Condition of Employees Safety Climate Unsafe Acts by Employees Unsafe Work Conditions Production delays Minor injuries Accidents Equipment damage Disabling injuries

24. Safety-Related Factors 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

25. 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 job • 2. _____ I focus my attention on what is going wrong • 3. _____ I focus my total attention on learning a new rule/procedure • 4. _____ I focus my attention on being ready for any changes in my work • 5. _____ I focus my attention to respond to any changes in my work • 6. _____ I think about new strategies for improving my performance • 7. _____ 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.

26. 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.

27. Role of Job Security on Workplace Accidents Safety Knowledge Workplace Injuries Safety Compliance Perceptions of job security Job Satisfaction Workplace Accidents Safety Motivation 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.

28. Good Design

29. Bad Designs Shower Control

30. Bad Designs (cont.)

31. Bad Designs (cont.) Which button do you press to make a copy? How do you lower the volume?

32. Bad Designs (cont.) Versus Enter or not? Which way do you go?

33. Bad Designs (cont.) Which burner control do you use? Speed control Which way (in or out) to go faster? How do you raise the windows?

34. OSHA --- Some Issues • Frequency of inspections • In 2003: 111 million workers were employed at 7 million sites • In 2003: OSHA Inspectors: 1,123 • Adequacy of fines • Cost – Benefit Assessment (Variation in benefits by State) • Cause and effect determination (e.g., time factor, type of injury, type of illness) • E) Workers compensation and ability to sue