Eighty-five per cent of employees in the public and voluntary think stress is a fact of life, according to the “Clockoff survey”. The research took into account the opinion of more than 3,700 people in the public and voluntary sectors including the police and the NHS, NGOs, social housing and more.
The results of the survey show that 93 per cent of people say they are stressed at work a lot of the time, some of the time, or all of the time. Breaking that down, nine per cent say they are stressed all the time they are at work, and almost every one of these respondents said they work over and above their working hours.
Survey respondents claim to work an extra seven additional hours a week on average and less than a quarter of respondents get a main break of 30 minutes or more every day.
The Clockoff survey found that 46 per cent of people strongly agree they have to work beyond their hours to keep up with their workload, 31 per cent agree and just three per cent strongly disagree.
Respondents reported physical and psychological symptoms of stress as headaches, poor sleep, mental health issues and digestive problems.
Workplace stress and overworked employees appear to go hand in hand according to the survey. Stress in the workplace can lead to an array of problems including workplace absence, which causes a negative effect on productivity, workplace morale and more.
To find out more about how your organisation can tackle workplace stress contact OHBM for occupational health and advice today.