Rlchard Pettlnger

HUMAN FACTORS

Some stress is physical, such as Repetitive Strain Injuries (RSIs) and back injuries, and therefore much easier to address both managerially and culturally. Problems are compounded, however, because so much stress is psychological and behavioral, and is therefore much more difficult to observe and quantify.

Stress also has a very strong subjective element. Some individuals take in their stride what others find extremely stressful. Some people find different parts of work more stressful than others. For example, some nurses regard having to do paperwork as an opportunity to sit down away from hospital ward pressures, while others resent it because it interferes with the ward work.

Some people complain of stress when, while it is known and understood that the particular working environment is very pressurized, this is nevertheless simply the norm for the particular occupation or organization. Those who do complain consequently come to be badly thought of, and so the individual pressure is compounded.

A major cause of individual stress is being on the receiving end of bullying, victimization, discrimination, and harassment. These activities are morally repugnant and an affront to basic humanity. They are endemic in all organizations, industrial, commercial, and public service sectors across the Western world and Far East. Organizations have active legal responsibilities in recognizing and resolving these matters in the EU, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa; and the moral and ethical case is absolute everywhere.