The Causes of Occupational Stress and Its Effects on Overall Performance within Oil and Gas Industry - Dissertation Example

?The Causes of Occupational Stress and Its Effects on Overall Performance within Oil and Gas Industry Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Introduction 3 Stress 3 Response Based Stress 4 Occupational Stress 4 Causes 5 5 Work Related Stress 6 Models of Stress Management 7 Cognitive-Affective Stress Management Training 8 Stress Inoculation Training 8 Crew Resource Management 10 Suggestion to Correct Any Wrong Doing 10 Improving Communication 11 Consulting With Employees 11 Provide Rewards and Incentives 11 Relationship between the Occupational Stress and Bad Overall Performance of the Organisation 12 Conclusion 15 References 16 Bibliography 20 Introduction This paper deals with stress management in an organisation. This paper intends to focus upon organisational stress. It contains the reasons and causes for stress in an individual followed by different models that can be used for stress management. Further there is a discussion about the different reasons for the organisational stress along with the impacts of stresses in an organisation that are identified. The different strategies that can be applied to manage stress have also been discussed. Stress ‘Stress’ is a word which is expressed as a negative term. Stress can be seen as something bad or unnecessary. As for instance, terminologies such as time pressure, overwork, anxiety, depression, migraine or headaches are usually used to understand the word ‘stress’. Generally, stress is considered to be a negative experience for every individual. Stress can be described as a reaction or feeling that an individual experiences. The examples of workplace stressor include being overworked and time pressures. It is a condition or difficult situation that disturb or is expected to upset the normal physiological functioning of an individual. It is the response of a body which is harmful in nature that tends to disturb its physiological equilibrium (Cooper & Et. Al., 2010). Response Based Stress Response based stress is the form of strain, pressure and tension. The approach of response based stress is to understand stress which appears to describe an intangible happening hence it can be analysed as outcome. In research terms, it can be explained as dependant variable, where the major hypothetical field is the sign of stress (Cooper & Et. Al., 2010). . Occupational Stress There is a negative upsetting experience within an individual in a workplace which is complex as well as dynamic process and directly or indirectly affects the physiological factors of individuals such as gastrointestinal disorders, mental trauma, musculoskeletal pain and cardiovascular diseases. It is risky to work in a stressful environment as it may be physically harmful which is called as symptom for psychological distress (Clarke & Cooper, 2004). According to National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, the number of cumulative trauma of the US employees has increased and there were large number of personal injuries in the United Kingdom. The cumulative trauma mentally affects a person due to continuous exposure to occupational stress (Clarke & Cooper, 2004). A various number of studies in the earlier days have shown that occupational stress has been considered as the prime risky aspect for mental illness among the workers in an occupation. It has been analysed by Stansfeld and Candy that combining high demands with low decision latitude along with high efforts with low rewards were eventually a factor which causes mental disorders (Stansfeld & Candy, 2006). Causes The cause of stress depends upon structure of the workplace and type of job that an individual does in an organisation. The stress is caused due to following reasons: Demand: The demand factor is the main cause for stress; it depends upon workload of an individual. The work can expose an individual to different physical risks such as fire, noise, chemicals and others. Control: An individual gets involved in making decision and influences others in a workplace. Relationship: The bad relationship with team members, top manager and others may cause stress in a workplace. Role: The change of a working pattern may also create stress, if an individual is not able to support the changes (European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, 2002). In the UK, a longitudinal survey conducted among 3624 cases has found that causes for annual average of metal illness were due to occupational stress. It has been reflected that there is great difference between expectation of workers and environment of workplace (Cherry & Et. Al., 2001). In terms of occupational stress related aspect in oil and gas industry, the work of offshore oil platform is broadly viewed as a stressful work, as its workers have to experience the stressor of both onshore works along with offshore. The stress can be measured in terms of physical and psychosocial stressors. The issues related to physical stressors are confined living as well as working space, noise, unfavourable offshore weather related situation, long work related hours, bad lighting condition as well as ventilation, vibration and shift work and psychosocial stressors consist of travelling by ship, clarity, workload, fire, blow out, job insecurity, family matters as well as social factors (Chen & Et. Al., 2009). It is difficult to tackle ‘work-related stresses’. There are laws as well as standards which are developing and provide information about expectation of employers and unions. The various laws are required to reduce the employees stress and to treat the employee affected by stress in a specific way. The law such as Health and Safety at Work Act and Local Authority inspector is related to stress management (Prospect, 2011). Work Related Stress Work related stress can be experienced when the demand for environmental factor for work exceeds the ability of workers to cope with them. Stress can not be said to be a disease but it influences an individual for a long phase of time which is harmful mentally or physically. When an individual works under a certain pressure, it improves the performance and becomes challenging when the goals are achieved. In the same way, excessive demanding circumstances lead to stress (European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, 2002). Stress is usually ignored and created due to much pressure in a workplace. Stress can affect anyone and weaken the health as well as safety of an individual, organisation as well as economy. It may occur due to the changes in management and working pattern of an individual (Prospect, 2011). Models of Stress Management The economic recession and the predictors of challenging period by the economist have reported that many Americans experience anxiety as well as stress about their futures. According to the ‘Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (2008), there was a reduction of one million jobs in the nation and the rate of unemployment was the highest since 1994. There were closures of businesses, housing prices were reduced and the banking crisis compounded many people’s every-day stress levels. The ‘American Psychological Association’ (2008) stated that about 80% of Americans believe that the economic conditions and the household finances are the main sources of stress. As the people were practicing stress on a regular basis, they had become more experienced to deal with extra pressure. Individuals can manage stress depending upon two things: how they monitor the circumstances and their general viewpoint for life (Preiss, 2009). The ABCD model is divided into various behavioural patterns. It begins with individual practicing activating events. An event of activating stands for first letter for “A” of ABCD model. A job loss is an example of activity event. Individual experiencing activity event develops rational or irrational belief. The word belief stands for the second letter “B” of ABCD model. It allows an individual to control their thinking. "I will never find another job," or "I won’t be able to support my family" is an example for irrational belief. Conversely, "I have contacts in the industry," and "I have money in the bank to support my family until I find another job" is an example for rational belief (Preiss, 2009). There may be positive or negative consequences of an emotion. The consequence i.e.”C” is the third letter of ABCD model and it depends upon what individuals tell themselves. Individual who has irrational belief may experience the negative self talk and have negative emotional consequences. Conversely, individual having rational belief practice positive self talk and experience positive emotional consequences. The last letter “D” stands for dispute, and it occurs when individual thinks rationally (Preiss, 2009). Cognitive-Affective Stress Management Training Cognitive-Affective Stress Management is the stress management approach which is designed to train individuals to control emotional provocations. The different fields of individual such as bankers, social workers, athletes and business executives have applied the method of stress management. This model provides details about the situation, an individual’s mental appraisal, actual and psychological behaviour. The model provides the strategy for specific involvement of relaxation skill and restructuring of cognition. The combination of physical and mental managing strategy finally leads to integrated way of managing the response (Weinberg & Et. Al., 2010). Stress Inoculation Training Stress inoculation program helps the individuals’ skill to cope up with psychological stressors and thereby enhances the productivity of an organisation through the improvement in the performances of the employees. Hence, the individual can get an opportunity to apply their managing skill and progress to cope with their stress in future (Weinberg & Et. Al., 2010). Crew Resource Management Crew resource management is developed by aviation industry but can be used by different sectors such as oil and gas industry. It can be adopted for offshore installation which consists of four day training program for offshore operator. The main objective of this training is to recognise the differences between decisions making in the operating control room and in an emergency to identify the factors which stress upon the decision making situation (Flin, 1997). The stress module is designed to understand the cause and effect of stress. It recognises the causes of stress and improves the capability to manage the stress. A balanced model has been used to clarify the process of psychological and physiological stress and the main emphasis was given on causes of stress in an offshore emergency particularly, in the control room. The properly planned CRM training can be applied for offshore oil as well as gas industry, which have a broad application compared to emergency response situations which may help to reduce the stress of the employee in oil and gas industry. It can be implemented to enhance safety as well as productivity in a range of tasks where teamwork is important (Flin, 1997). Suggestion to Correct Any Wrong Doing The Health and Safety at Work Act ensures that the employers are taking effective steps to reduce the stress of an employee and to tackle it in a tactical way. The employer must evaluate the psychological risk of an employee related to workplace. The estimated risks must take suitable steps for the limitation of risk and has to monitor continuously. The organisation can also apply the regulations for working period. The long hours of working as well as working in nightshifts cause a risk for health and safety (Prospect, 2011). Improving Communication Distributing the information and any news with employees in order to lessen hesitation related to their jobs as well as futures The employer must visibly delineate the roles as well as responsibilities of employees Pleasant and well-organized communication has to be maintained, with the employee (Segal & Et. Al., 2010) Consulting With Employees Offering opportunities for participation in assessment which may influence their jobs Discussing about regulation and scheduling related to work along with the employee Workload must be suitable to with the capabilities of the employees and are required to avoid idealistic deadlines (Segal & Et. Al., 2010) Provide Rewards and Incentives Valuing superior work performance institutionally as well as vocally Offering opportunities related to career development Promoting an “entrepreneurial” work based environment which offers employees to have more power over their work Training is required for the employee for improvement of their skills and abilities Establishment of leadership commitment from the top management for managing stress (Segal & Et. Al., 2010) Relationship between the Occupational Stress and Bad Overall Performance of the Organisation Occupational stress has an immense impact on the employee, management and other related stakeholders of an organisation. The occupational stress is regarded as a severe problem within an organisation (Ornelas & Kleiner, 2003). The involvement of cost in an occupational stress is quite high. For example, in a report of ‘International Labour Organisation’ it has been shown that the total cost arises from the inefficiency of the labour which is due to occupational stress, is around 10% of a particular country’s GDP (Midgley, 1996). The causes of occupational stress may be expected due to diminution of job related security, lack of measures for safety, difficulty of standard and reduction of autonomy in the job. Additionally, occupational stress is also caused by shortage of resources as well as apparatus; inappropriate work related schedules (such as working overtime) and organisational environment are consider in contributing in employees’ stress. Occupational stress results in high level of displeasure between the poor work related performance, employees, less efficient in interpersonal relationship in a workplace, burnout, and job mobility (Manshor & Et. Al., 2003). The identification of sign of stress is essential to develop a possible planned solution for sign of stress. The measure for prevention of stress helps an individual to establish a coping skill as well as build up strategy for developing individual stress management plans to eliminate the source of stress (Johnson, 2001). The main stress within a workplace may be the transformation in technology, downsizing, uncertain reorganisation and changes in workplace, competition for opportunities, lack of contribution in decision making and lack of employee motivation. As a result, the occupational stress largely effect the organisation such as decrease in the performance level, high turnover, lowering down of job satisfaction, low productivity, decrease in the quality of a product, poor communication within the organisation, thus increases the probability of conflict (Schabracq & Cooper, 2000). The negative effects of occupational stress are decreased competence, decreased capacity to perform, reduction in taking initiatives and lowering of interest in work, increasing inflexibility of thought, lack of disquiet for the organisation as well as colleagues and a loss of accountability (Greenberg & Baron, 2000). The occupation stress should be controlled properly, otherwise it may increase rate of absentees and lower the morale of employees. For example, a study has been performed by Randolph in the year 1997 which observed that around 70% workers had stated that occupational stress causes health related diseases. The occupational stress is a threat for an organisation as the performer of an organisation may quit the job when he experiences the symptoms of stress for the first time. This simultaneously affects the organisation as the scenario may raise the cost related to recruiting or selecting the employees of an organisation (Ongori, 2007). Conclusion Organisations have to operate in any type of environmental scenario in spite of occupational stress felt by workers. The responsibility of the management is to encourage employee and manage their occupational stress competently. The employee can be empowered by connecting the union of employee force with the main issue related to labour management relations. This measure may help to prevent stress as it tends to avoid conflict in an organisation (Ongori & Agolla, 2008). References Cooper, C. & Et. Al., 2010. Organizational Stress Management: A Strategic Approach. Palgrave Macmillan. Cherry, N. M & Et. Al., 2001. Reported Incidence And Precipitating Factors Of Work-Related Stress And Mental Ill-Health In The United Kingdom (1996–2001). Oxford Journals. Vol. 56, Iss: 6, pp. 414-421. Chen, W. Q. & Et. Al., 2009. Mental Health Issues in Chinese Offshore Oil Workers. Oxford Journal. [Online] Available at: http://occmed.oxfordjournals.org/content/59/8/545.full [Accessed May 25, 2011]. Clarke, S. & Cooper, C. L., 2004. Managing the Risk of Workplace Stress: Health and Safety Hazards. Routledge. European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, 2002. 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