According to a survey, almost one in three employees in Germany feels exposed to various serious stresses at the same time at work.
In the representative survey by the German Federation of Trade Unions (DGB), 31 percent of those surveyed stated that they were repeatedly affected by hard physical work, time pressure, noise, but also conflicts with colleagues and customers. The “DGB Good Work Index” is available from the German Press Agency. It is based on interviews with more than 6,000 employees who were surveyed between January and April.
Multiple stresses are normal for many people
86 percent of those surveyed are under time pressure, one in two very often or often, and another 36 percent rarely. 56 percent are familiar with heavy physical labor from their work, 73 percent are aware of ambient noise and noise, including 40 percent very often or often, and 65 percent are aware of conflicts with colleagues or customers, although most only report rare cases.
“As a rule, activities are characterized by various requirements that often occur simultaneously,” says the study. Multiple burdens are the order of the day. 31 percent of those surveyed reported all four types of stress.
Consequences for health
The greater the workload, the worse employees rate their health and future ability to work. Of the employees who have to deal with multiple physical and psychological stress factors, 39 percent said they were in good health. According to the study, only seven percent of them say that they can probably keep working under these conditions until retirement age.
In the group of employees who do not have any of the stresses, 71 percent describe their health as good or very good.
38 percent of those surveyed said that there had been an assessment of the risk to their job in the past two years. The DGB points out that employers are obliged to do this. DGB chairwoman Yasmin Fahimi said: “If companies do not comply with their legal obligations regarding occupational safety, employees have to pay for it with their health. That is unacceptable.” Overall, work should not make you sick.
