0.1632
900 319 0030
x

Impacts of Poor Work Environments

iasparliament Logo
April 15, 2018

Why in news?

Recent studies has revealed that depression and stress are increasing among employees in private sector.

What are the findings of the study?

  • Two recent studies have found that depression, anxiety and stress prevail among 43-46 per cent of employees in India’s private sector.
  • The harmful side effects of “management toxicity” are affecting more and more Indians.
  • Some one-eighth of the 800,000 suicides across the world annually are literate Indians potentially employed or employable.
  • India is the world capital for diabetes, and cardio ailments are affecting more and more Indians in their thirties.

What are the reasons behind these issues?

  • Demanding work schedules, high pressure on Key Performance Indicators linked to higher perquisites, and the always-on mobile phone syndrome are the top three culprits.
  • Improper sleep, relationship issues, poor eating habits, lack of exercise, lifestyle issues such as EMI troubles and peer pressure to maintain luxurious lifestyles complete the list.
  • Unhealthy workplaces diminish employee engagement, increase turnover, and reduce job performance, while driving up health insurance and health­care costs.

How work environments contribute to these factors?

  • For white collar workers the stress at work is intangible and doesn’t get measured which results in an ever-higher physical and psychological toll.
  • An empirical studies found that long work hours are associated with adverse health including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and disability.
  • Working overtime was associated with a 61 per cent higher injury rate.
  • There are also various evidence which shows significant positive mean correlations between overall health symptoms and hours of work.

What measures needs to be taken?

  • Employees must comprehend what constitutes health risks in their work environments and choose their employers based on the stress-related dimensions of work.
  • Employees need to learn how to say “No” when it is right to say so and to adhere to time management principles.
  • Employers will need to determine the costs of their toxic management practices in terms of both direct medical costs and indirect costs.
  • Respective governments’ needs to take action on the externalities created when enterprises retrench people who were physically and psychologically damaged at work.
  • Societies also need social movements to advocate human sustainability and better work environments are as important as environmental sustainability.

Source: Business Standard

Login or Register to Post Comments
There are no reviews yet. Be the first one to review.

ARCHIVES

MONTH/YEARWISE ARCHIVES

Free UPSC Interview Guidance Programme