Workplace stress is on the rise, according to 710 respondents who completed the two-minute online stress survey recently posted at cupe.ca. Among the results:
- 607 respondents (85.5%) reported that their workplace stress has increased in the past two years.
- 585 respondents (82.4%) reported that stress is or sometimes is a health and safety hazard/problem in their workplace.
- Only 171 respondents (24.1%) said they have raised stress issues with their joint health and safety committee.
- Just 59 respondents (8.3%) said stress hazards/problems are dealt with to their satisfaction at the joint health and safety committee level.
The numbers clearly show stress problems worsening and one avenue of addressing workplace stress not being fully utilized. The new CUPE Health and Safety Branch guideline Enough Workplace Stress: Organizing for Change argues that stress is a health and safety hazard that must be addressed like other hazards eliminate the hazard at the source. One way to do this is to target joint health and safety committees as a mechanism for workers to change their working conditions. For more information, please download the guideline (PDF download).