How Stress Relief Can Reduce Accidents

Work overload deadlines, pressures all play a role in work related accidents.  Stress is a leading cause of accidents in the workplace. And stress is a major cause in home accidents as well! When you’re feeling stress, you don’t think clearly and you’re likely to forget simple things.

The brain can only take so much and this stress load is over-riding everything else.  The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) found that:

• 25% of workers view their jobs as the greatest source of stress
• 26% have already experienced job burnout
• 40% of workers label their job duties as very stressful
• 75% of workers think that job stress is much worse than it was for workers in the previous generation

Some people thrive on the adrenaline rush they get form diving into challenges they face at work.  But if you’re not stimulated and feel like you’re drowning instead then work stress may be the problem. See if you recognize the signs of stress.

• You’re often irritable
• You have trouble concentrating
• You’re tired
• You get less done
• Getting out of bed on a workday morning is a major effort

Are you feeling more stress on your job or in your business?  If you do, you’re not alone.  When you feel stressed, you can protect yourself and others by:

• Slow down and double check everything you do (this keeps you from having to do things over)
• Read and re-read any safety directions, even if you already think you know it. Under stress, your brain is distracted
• Ask for help if you feel the task is too much for you
• Ask a colleague to double check the process
• Don’t agree to learn a new task or operate new equipment when you feel stressed or extremely tired. You won’t retain the information well.
• Take breaks away from the task and relax. Your mind needs to step down from alert status and rest before resuming the task. For every 2 hours of intense work take a few minutes to relax.

Workplace stress isn’t something you tough out to prove your worth. Working under stress places you and your co-workers at risk for accidents. Even if you don’t drive a forklift, you can cause just as much damage by not thinking it out as you reach for a heavy box and drop it on someone’s head pull or wrench your back due to lack of attention to a task

Decreasing stress improves your productively and improves your attitude and your life.