The Cause & Effect of stress on employees of Century Rayon, & Emphasizing on Remedies

To a scientist, stress is any action or situation that places special physical or psychological demands upon a person, anything that can unbalance his individual equilibrium. And while the physiological response to such demand is surprisingly uniform, the forms of stress are innumerable. Stress may be even but unconscious like the noise of a city or the daily chore of driving the car. Perhaps the one incontestable statement that can be made about stress is that it belongs to everyone- to businessmen and professors, to mother and their children, to factory workers. Stress is a part of fabric of life. Nothing can isolate stress from human beings as is evident from various researches and studies. Stress can be managed but not simply done away with. Today, widely accepted ideas about stress are challenged by new research, and conclusions once firmly established may be turned completely around. The latest evidence suggested (Ogden Tanner,1979): - - Some stress is necessary to the well being and a lack can be harmful. - Stress definitely causes some serious ailments. -Severe stress makes people accident-prone. This particular study emphasizes mainly on the study of work related or occupational stress. OCCUPATIONAL STRESS can be defined as the harmful physical and emotional responses that occur when the requirements of the job do not match the capabilities, resources, or needs of the worker. Job stress can lead to poor health and even injury. The concept of Occupational stress is often confused with challenge, but these concepts are not the same. Challenge energizes us psychologically and physically, and it motivates us to learn new skills and master our Occupations. When a challenge is met, we feel relaxed and satisfied. Thus, challenge is an important ingredient for healthy and productive work. The importance of challenge in our work lives is probably what people are referring to when they say, "a little bit of stress is good for you. Occupational stress is that which derives specifically from conditions in the work place. These may either cause stress initially or aggravate the stress already present from other sources. In today’s typical workplace, stress is seen as becoming increasingly more common. People appear to be working longer hours, taking on higher level of responsibilities and exerting themselves even more strenuously to meet rising expectations about Occupational performance also certain working condition may aggravate the problem. In this particular study the researcher tried to find out what are the various causes & effects of stress on the industrial workers particularly of the employees of the Century Rayon, Shahad with an intention to suggest remedial action for the same.
Need of the study: In no country examined is stress included in the official lists of occupational illnesses drawn up by the relevant authorities, and therefore there is no automatic right to monetary compensation for those affected. The only exception is in cases in which persons have been submitted to a violent situation due to their work that has led them to suffer post-traumatic stress - this applies in Denmark, the Netherlands and Portugal (specifically for members of the army who have taken part in wars). Some degree of stress is a normal part of life and provides part of the stimulus to learn and grow, without having an adverse effect on health. When stress is intense, continuous or repeated - as is often the case with occupational stress - ill health can result (Hazards,1994). The experience of stress can affect the way individuals think, feel and behave, and can also cause physiological changes. Many of the short and long term illnesses caused by stress can be accounted for by the physiological changes that take place when the body is placed under stress. From the documented evidence, it is clear that as far as work life is concerned extreme stress is so aversive to employees that they will try to avoid it by withdrawing psychologically (through disinterest or lack of involvement in the occupation etc.). Excessive stress can destroy the quality of life and also effect family life. Workers under stress are far more likely to have accidents than workers in low stress jobs, and are much more likely to have to take time off work for stress-related sickness. In jobs where work overload is the cause of the stress, the workers find that they have to take time off to deal with the stress, only to return to work to find that the already unmanageable workload has substantially increased in their absence, thereby increasing the source of the stress and fuelling a vicious cycle which may ultimately lead to a complete breakdown in health (Selye,1976). Stress also has following symptoms : Physical Symptoms, Mental Health Symptoms, Psychological Symptoms, Asthma Irritability, Smoking Ulcers, Depression Heavy drinking, Heart disease, Anxiety, Eating Disorders, Diabetes, Burn out, Increased sickness, Thyroid disorders, Withdrawal Low self esteem. Thus, stress can cause changes in those experiencing it. In some cases there are clear signs that people are experiencing stress at work and if these can be identified early, action can be taken before the pressure becomes a problem. This may make it easier to reduce and eliminate the causes. It is important that everyone looks out for changes in a person's or a group's behavior. However, in many cases the changes may only be noticeable to the person subject to the stress and so it is also important to look at how you are feeling and try to identify any potential issues you may have as early as possible and take positive action to address them; this may be raising the matter with a line manager, talking to an occupational health professional or your own GP. Since Work related stress has these various adverse effects not only on the productivity & quality of work of the employees but also has various adverse physical & psychological effects on the industrial effects it is necessary to study what are the different reasons that are responsible for occupational stress and their subsequent effects on the workers in order to find the remedial measure to be undertaken by the organization to improve the work life of workers, quality of work and productivity of the employees. Thus, this study could be very useful not only for the particular organization but also national and international level to improve workers quality of life, productivity & quality of work. Statement of the problem: The study of causes & effects of the occupational stress on the employees of Century Rayon, Shahad & emphasizing on remedies.
Definitions of the variables: Stress stress is any action or situation that places special physical or psychological demands upon a person, anything that can unbalance his individual equilibrium. And while the physiological response to such demand is surprisingly uniform, the forms of stress are innumerable. Stress may be even but unconscious like the noise of a city or the daily chore of driving the car. Occupational Stress, Occupational stress can be defined as the harmful physical and emotional responses that occur when the requirements of the job do not match the capabilities, resources, or needs of the worker. Job stress can lead to poor health and even injury. Stressor: Physical, psychological , or social force that puts real or perceived demands the body, emotions, mind, or spirit of an individual . on Biological, chemical, or physical factor that can cause temporary or permanent harm to an ecosystem, environment, or organism. Aims & Objectives : To study the causes of stress on the employees of the Century Rayon, Shahad., To study the effects of stress on the employees of Century Rayon, Shahad, To suggest remedial measures to manage/ eliminate stress of the employees Of Century Rayon, Shahad. Hypothesis : Work related stress adversely affects physical & psychological health of the employees, Work related stress has an adverse effects on the productivity and quality of work life of the employees. Delimitations of the Study : This study is limitated to work related stress only and other personal reasons for stress are not taken into considerations, This study is limitated to the workers of Century Rayon, Shahad and that too from Prod. Dept. Tyre Cord Divison only, Due to shortage of time period available researcher could not study the concerned problem in detail. Scope and Significance of the study : Occupational stress can be inadvertently linked to success or failure at one’s job. The general impression about occupational stress is the feeling of failure due to work overload. But if this is the case and so simple a problem then merely by reducing the amount of work, occupational stress could have been done away with. However the problem is not that easy to pinpoint. It is here that a comparative investigation of the reasons of stress in different occupations becomes important. Herein lies the most crucial significance of the study. To combat a problem the awareness of the conditions, which lead to it, are very important. Stress is a part of everyone’s daily life. It means that the person cannot cope with the demands put forward by his or her work, which is opposite to their expectations of rewards and success. It affects both the person concerned and the relationships he or she forms in the society be it with family or friends. Although the importance of individual differences cannot be ignored, scientific evidence suggests that certain working conditions are stressful to most people. The excessive workload demands and conflicting expectations and puts a greater emphasis on working conditions as the key source of job stress, and for job redesign as a primary prevention strategy. In jobs where work overload is the cause of the stress, the workers find that they have to take time off to deal with the stress, only to return to work to find that the already unmanageable workload has substantially increased in their absence, thereby increasing the source of the stress and fuelling a vicious cycle which may ultimately lead to a complete breakdown in health. At times the work stress becomes so extreme that the workers grow aversive of it and they try to avoid it by withdrawing either psychologically (through disinterest or lack of involvement in the job etc.). or physically through absenteeism, frequently reporting late for work and even while working an attitude of lethargy persists. In this present era of cutthroat competition the idea of being perfect becomes very necessary to strive and become successful. The worker has to be perfect in his job or else he will be replaced or at least lag behind in his work leading to stress. In India the problem of stress management is gaining more and more importance due to the new privatized nature of the economy. People are leaving behind the cozy atmosphere of government jobs and joining the private sector where there is no end to the amount of work that a person can undertake. In this environment coping with stress becomes very important. One has to be aware of the problem well in advance to be able to deal with it. The study becomes very important to be aware of the problems of the present, then build strategies for the future, and also consider the problems that may arise. Stress factor of the employees according to their age and the kind of work that he performs are key areas to identify the problems.