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STRESS SPECIALS
City of Stoke On Trent Branch - Health & Safety Snippets
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STRESS SPECIALS |
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UNISON national health and safety officer Hope Daley believes the situation
could actually get worse if nothing is done.
“The public sector is one of the worst sectors for bullying, especially in the
last few years due to the large amount of change – which translates to
pressure from above to do more with less,” she says.
“But with more change on the way we can expect even more pressure on managers
to do more with less, which means if steps aren’t taken cultures that condone
bullying and harassment could take hold.”
Working When Sick Is The new Epidemic
Too many people are going into work when they are ill, according to a new TUC report. A poll of 1000 people found that as many as three staff in four have been to work while sick. One in five of those questioned had gone in sick in the last month alone. While sickness absence at work last year was the lowest since CBI surveys began, the TUC said that too many people may now be going to work when they would be better off recovering at home — and not infecting their colleagues.
The poll found that white collar workers and workers in the West Midlands are the most likely to struggle to work when ill.
And the most common reason people gave for going to work while sick was that ‘people depend on the job I do".
"We are not the nation of malingerers that some paint, said TUC general secretary Brendan Barber. "In fact we struggle into work even when we are too ill to do so, because we don’t want to let people down."
"It’s all part of our long hours culture. Indeed long hours, stress and increasing workloads make people sick."
UNISON policy and research officer Ross Hendry said "This evidence reaffirms our members’ commitment to their work, and the pressure often placed upon them to reach unrealistic targets".
"Employers often view sick leave suspiciously. However, we know from a number of studies that workplace stress is causing more health problems, and that workers very rarely abuse the sick leave system.
"We hope that this study highlights these issues and leads to greater compassion from employers and greater understanding over the damage such a culture of ‘presenteeism’ can cause."
The TUC in part blames advertising for the trend. Campaigns for cold remedies too often try to frighten people with what would happen if they don’t struggle into work. At the same time an advertisement for online Bank Egg encouraged customers to "throw a sickie".
"The TUC’s message," said Barber, "is don’t be a mucus trooper. Look after yourself properly."
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(11/8/04) A radical overhaul of layout, design and working practices is needed to prevent back pain associated with kitchen work, according to a survey released by UNISON today. It called for better design and safer working practices as repetitive movements, including bending, twisting, working in awkward positions and lifting heavy objects lead to a variety of musculoskeletal complaints, including pains in the shoulders, lower back, knees, wrists and ankles. |
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The problems caused were so severe that, 49% of those surveyed said they had experienced pain in the past week. A massive 77% had significant pain in the past 12 months, with over half revealing that they had to seek medical help, because their condition was so acute. UNISON senior national health and safety officer I Daley said living with pain should not be an option, especially when employers could take action to prevent it. "We need proper risk assessments to monitor where the real danger areas are and immediate action where solutions have already been identified," she said. "Most kitchen workers are women and they have to adjust themselves to the work surface, instead of work surfaces adjusting to them. Surfaces are designed at a standard height, leaving people who are above or below the average, working in an awkward posture, particularly when cutting or chopping.’ The survey showed that the way people work also contributes to the risk of developing musculoskeletal injury. The likelihood of injury increased when employees were working very fast and intensively. When in a hurry workers, tended to lift badly, putting stress on their lower backs. If staff are able to take more time over tasks, then the risk of injury is reduced. The cost of sickness absence is significant, but some employers are failing to take even the most basic precautions against accidents. Failure to repair equipment made jobs more awkward and heavy and in other cases the lack of equipment or staff shortages increased the risk of injury. However, the survey found that the greatest number of complaints were about how heavy many kitchen tasks were and how awkward they were — particularly when they meant long periods bending over. Given the problems of working with equipment shortages, poorly designed equipment and breakdown, exacerbated by the lack of staff, catering workers felt under pressure from colleagues and managers, which in turn led to stress. "Employers have a legal duty to protect their workers from injury , so dealing with wet floors or an environment that is uncomfortably hot or cold, should be a priority. It’s not rocket science and it would help to turn kitchens into pain-free zones," said Daley. |
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We Helped Peter Miss The Point Unison recently helped a health worker win £58,000 in compensation for a needlestick injury. Accidents like this should never happen. That's why we would like to work with you to prevent such events. Peter's a hospital health worker and a Unison member. He worked with his local branch to campaign for safer needles. After negotiations with his employer Peter and his work colleagues can now work with greater peace of mind. |
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We Helped Ranjit See The Light Ranjit, a Unison member worked in an office with little natural light. Working on a computer all day also meant he was prone to bad headaches and a low sense of wellbeing. His local Unison representative carried out a risk assessment of his office and made suggestions that helped him immensely - like rearranging the furniture to focus on the human needs rather than the every day function needs of his office. |
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Stressed Public Sector Workers Most Likely To Go Sick (6/7/04) Public sector workers have one of the highest rates of sickness absence according to a report released by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. Although minor illnesses such as colds and flu remain the most important cause of sickness absence for all UK workers, the report shows the effect of stress is growing, with 52 per cent of employers reporting an increase. Heavy workloads, pressure to meet targets and management styles were the key reasons for stress-related illnesses. Results from the survey show that workers in the public sector took 10.7 days off work sick last year compared with 7.8 days in private firms. The average worker took 9.1 days a year as sick leave whereas people working in the health service and central government took 11.6 days sick a year. June Chandler, national officer for UNISON, says it is important to look behind the figures and try to discover the underlining causes. "There is sometimes violence against public sector workers and working with the public brings cross infection" she explains. "Public Sector Workers don’t take sick leave lightly. I don’t think it is fair to compare the public and private sectors. They are different". |
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Ban On Smoking In Public Welcome Idea (1/7/04) UNISON has joined the debate on the need for a ban on smoking in public places, arguing that the step would protect both the general public and workers forced to spend time in smoky environments. The government is believed to be thinking of introducing such legislation as part of its third term manifesto, and there are increasing calls for its introduction from the British Medical Association(BMA). "UNISON would welcome legislation which bans smoking in public places," said Hope Daley, the union’s National Health and Safety Officer. ‘The evidence is clear - passive smoking kills. We’ve heard a lot about choice recently from the government but many workers currently have no choice but to breathe in deadly tobacco smoke. "It’s time the government stopped prevaricating on this issue and started to protect workers and the public from this deadly substance." A possible ban would follow the decision by the government of the Irish Republic, which started enforcing a smoking ban in pubs, restaurants and other workplaces at the end of March 2004. Norway followed suit at the start of June 2004, arguing that workers in the catering industry need protection from the harmful effects of passive smoking. Similar restrictions or partial bans are also in place in workplaces, including bars in New York City, California, Tanzania, South Africa and the Netherlands. The BMA this week revised upward earlier estimates on the risks from passive smoking from 25-30% increased risk of coronary heart disease from those non-smokers who live with smokers to 50-60%.
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Balancing disabled people’s needs and workers’ backs A court has ruled that blanket bans on lifting patients discriminates against disabled people under the Disability Discrimination Act. Two disabled women claimed that their Council was breaking the law by refusing to allow staff to lift them at all. Welcoming the judgment, Disability Rights Commission (DRC) chair Bert Massie said: ' This is a clear victory for thousands of disabled people who have been denied their most basic of human rights. There is an obvious need for care workers not to be put at risk of injury in their jobs but this must be balanced with disabled people's independence and quality of life.' The court backed HSE guidance on manual handling, and UNISON’s Hugh Robertson commented: 'The judgement makes it clear that policies must preserve the dignity of the client and the health of the worker. That means looking at alternatives to hoists if required, but these alternatives can include other equipment, or, in exceptional circumstances agreed in advance, having sufficient staff available to allow physical handling safety. This is in line with the HSE guidance and the advice that UNISON has always given.' But he added: 'every year, thousands of care workers have their backs injured through inappropriate manual lifting and it is important that this judgement is not seen as a green light for managers asking workers to lift another adult person on their own.' |
(13/7/04) Teaching primary school children about healthy diets does not necessarily impact on what they choose to eat in the school canteen according to a government report. The report released by Ofsted and the Food Standard Agency blamed school meals for not doing enough to promote healthy eating. "The meals provided in most of the schools did not complement sufficiently the healthy eating messages that the teaching sought to convey," it stated. The report went on to explain that even when healthy options were available pupils were overwhelmed by too much choice and tended to opt for foods they were familiar with. Christine Lewis, national officer for UNISON, believes this shows that the voluntary approach is not always very helpful. "School has an enormous role to play in feeding and educating children," she said, ‘Suddenly everyone is waking up to the damage that has been caused to the health of the nation by ignoring children’s diets". Lewis wants to see a return to the traditional school meal. "School dinners should serve as a social function and for some children this will be their only opportunity to sit and eat with other people." Another report released today by the department for education showed that despite salads and vegetables being available only 6% of secondary school pupils chose the healthy option. These findings will be bad reading for government with child obesity now affecting one in six children. |
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STRESS SPECIALS
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WORK RELATED STRESS - MYTHS AND FACTS
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It is becoming an increasingly global phenomenon affecting all countries, all professions and all categories of workers, families and society in general. Furthermore, there is evidence that the experience of stress at work is associated with changes in behaviour as well as physiological functions, and both may be detrimental to health. Stress may contribute to the development of various symptoms of occupational ill health and of physical and psychological disorders. The emerging approach for intervention emphasis prevention and elimination of the causes, rather than the treatment of its effects. EFFECTS ON THE BODY |
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Brain |
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| Saliva Normal (relaxed): Normal Under Pressure: Reduced Acute Pressure: Reduced Chronic Pressure (stress): Dry mouth, lump in throat Heart Bladder |
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Lungs Normal (relaxed): Blood supply normal Under Pressure: Blood supply up Acute Pressure: Improved performance Chronic Pressure (stress): Headaches or migraines, tremors and nervous tics Muscles Mood |
| Bowels Normal (relaxed): Normal blood supply and bowel activity Under Pressure: Reduced blood supply and increased bowel activity Acute Pressure: Reduced blood supply reduced digestion Chronic Pressure (stress): Abdominal pain and diarrhoea
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Biochemistry Normal (relaxed): Normal: Oxygen consumed, glucose and fats liberated Under Pressure: Oxygen, glucose and fats consumption up Acute Pressure: More energy immediately available Chronic Pressure (stress): Rapid tiredness
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Sexual
Organs Normal (relaxed): (M) Normal (F) Normal periods etc Under Pressure: (M) Impotence (Decreased blood supply) (F) Irregular periods Acute Pressure: Decreased blood supply (M), (F) irregular periods Chronic Pressure (stress): Decreased blood supply (M) impotence (F) Menstrual disorders |
