PSYCHOSOCIAL HAZARD
According to the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety:
a) Psychological safety involves “preventing injury to the mental well-being of workers”
b) Psychological injuries are “stress-related emotional conditions resulting from real or imagined threats for injuries”
ALIENATION AND DISSATISFACTION
With the division of labour, alienation is a common problem for employees working in production lines because tasks can become repetitive and boring. Workers feel isolated or withdrawn. They may feel like they have no ownership over the product they are building. This can be detrimental to a worker’s sense of significance as an employee and his/her self esteem. Furthermore, as workers become bored, they are less engaged and less aware which may increase their risk to other types of hazards for themselves or for costumers.
 | TIME PRESSURE AND PRESSURE DEMANDS Employees working in production lines may experience pressure to work quickly and efficiently in order not to slow or stop the assembly line. If a workplace’s corporate culture demands quick product production, workers goals will also be that of product production and not for their health or safety. Workers may be intimidated to speak up and stop assembly lines to fix problems. There have been instances when workers could not keep up with the pressures of production lines and experienced psychological breakdowns. Some workers try to work on several assembly lines at the same time and may mix up the parts, resulting in criticism by the supervisor. In a study conducted on Malaysian automobile workers (2008), these problems have resulted in self-perceived depression, anxiety and stress. |
PSYCHOSOCIAL RISK FACTORS IN THE WORKPLACE
1. Psychological Support: A workplace where co-workers and employers support a worker’s mental health concerns and responds as needed.
2. Organizational Culture: A workplace characterized by trust, honesty and fairness.
3. Clear Leadership & Expectations: A workplace that has effective and supportive leadership that helps employees know what they need to do, how to contribute to the organization and whether there are any changes to job responsibilities.
4. Civility & Respect: A workplace where workers are respective and considerate of interactions with each other.
5. Psychological Job Fit: A workplace where there is a good fit between employee’s interactions and emotional competencies, their job skills and the positions they hold.
6. Growth & Development: A workplace where employees receive encouragement and support in the development of their interpersonal, emotional and job skills.
7. Recognition & Reward: A workplace where there is acknowledgement and appreciation of a worker’s efforts.
8. Involvement & Influence: A workplace that includes workers in decision making processes and discussions of how their work should be done.
9. Workload Management: A workplace where work tasks can be accomplished successfully within the time available.
10. Engagement: The worker feels connected to their work and motivated to do their job well.
11. Balance: A recognition for the balance between demands of work, family and personal life.
12. Psychological Protection: When employees feel able to put themselves on the line, ask questions, seek feedback, report mistakes and problems, or propose a new idea without fearing negative consequences to themselves or their career.
Many automobile companies are aware of these problems and are trying to address them. In attempt to improve working conditions, automobile factories are now clean, have a lot of light and an open architecture. Toyota factories in Japan create a happy working atmosphere by having cars play cheerful songs as they drive by. Furthermore, workers exercise together, are invested in and given a stake in the company. At Toyota, employees are encouraged to notice problems and to stop assembly lines to fix them if necessary. Then there are some car companies that entirely eliminate the use of an assembly line and its associated hazards by hand-building their cars. Employers have aimed to incorporate psychological support, clear leadership and expectations, recognition and reward, engagement and psychological protection. |  |
For more information about psychosocial risk factors, please visit:
