Psychosocial hazards may arise in work organizations due to poor work design, social context management and organization. They may have the potential to cause psychological harm like work-related stress and depression leading to poor output by the staff working to achieve a particular goal. This paper will reflect an article on Management Standards and work-related stress in the UK Policy background and science journal, its view, and predictions on the psychosocial hazards affecting human resource
Management standards and work-related stress in the UK article was authored by Taylor and Francis group in 2004. They researched and found out that there is a relationship between psychological hazards and harm (Ravalier, 2019). It was clear from the evidence that was drawn from descriptive studies and clinical experience. Biological evidence also shows processes that connect stress and other disease state (MacKay et al., 2004). The main psychosocial factors can be alleviated by conditions such as Homeostatic and allostatic changes that respond to stress and development of the metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance. Epidemiological and psychosocial evidence also supports that there is a link between work and dysfunction and generally there is an adverse effect on health (MacKay et al., 2004). Further evidence is drawn from literature works such as systemic reviews that have done a survey on psychosocial stressors’ effect on the related health issues they have on a worker.
Their report found out that Stress is a broad umbrella term for a wide range of differences (Jensen et al., 2019). Some factors that may lead to Stress within a work environment can be categorized into internal or external. After the study, they set a goal of reducing the causes of work-related Stress by setting up a risk assessment framework that could assess people in workplaces to realize the risk of Stress. The framework has been highly effective in identifying stress causes, and the number of the affected has been highly reduced in recent years (MacKay et al., 2004). The disadvantage of these frameworks is that they are difficult to be implemented in all organizations since some are small.
In his article, they researched how job insecurity in temporary contracts influenced psychosocial risks to gender insecurity. In the line study, they issued 113 males and 225 females with questionnaires (Mucci et al., 2019). By using a Health Safety Executive Analysis Tool software, he was able to note that most of the females were victims of harassment by their male counterparts. There was need to do a lot of research and find solutions to that issue. It was recommendable to emphasize the matter of unfavorable work conditions. In his goal to end the issue, he stated that managers and support staff should develop counselling programs for individuals who fall victim to the same (MacKay et al., 2004). Many organizations have noted the importance of managing those issues, and there has been increased social, peaceful interaction between male and female workers. His recommendations however have not fully been established since cases of gender-based differences are on the increase in work places.
In the past decades, there have been increased concerns about employees’ risks in their workplaces. Issues such as work-related violence have been a major cause of reduced general output of workers, especially where workers work as a team. Violence in the working places had the highest contribution to work-related Stress. When presented with work pressures and demands that are above their knowledge, many people might fall victim to Stress (MacKay et al., 2004). In such cases, there should be an understanding of everyone’s instincts and behaviors. In some situations, when there is rude communication, it may cause disagreements, and violence may be the immediate consequence. In their article, they mentioned that Stress could also contribute to heart-related problems such as heart diseases, musculoskeletal disorders and depression, which may greatly hinder human resources as a factor of production (MacKay et al., 2004). According to their research, they also found out that interpersonal relationships between the employer and the employee, lack of support, bullying and harassment can cause Stress and other related complications.
Thus, the above study’s recommendations gave a solution to curb the differences that may arise due to unhealthy relationships between the workers and the management. One of the most suitable ways was to create a good rapport through regular interaction between all the stakeholders in the workplace. This could be done by having a joint social meeting amongst all the other staff (MacKay et al., 2004). Recently, common trends in the organization have provided for peaceful interaction between the management and staff. However, it has not been the case in all circumstances since many managers do not take this seriously but rather, they are harsh to their employees.
In conclusion, psychosocial hazards have a high impact on human resources. Issues such as Stress, depression and gender-based violence within the working area can be limiting factors to high output by all workers (MacKay et al., 2004). There are numerous ways in which human resources can be increased. First, there should be a good relationship between the management and the staff (Jensen et al.,2019). It will enable all the stakeholders to interact freely and find a solution to complicated matters. Consequently, education to employees is mandatory, and they should be told what the organization expects from them. In some cases, the organization should develop rewards for highly productive workers to motivate all workers to work more.
References
Jensen, S. K., Tofail, F., Haque, R., Petri Jr, W. A., & Nelson III, C. A. (2019). Child development in the context of biological and psychosocial hazards among low-income families in Bangladesh. PloS one, 14(5), e0215304. Web.
MacKay, C., Cousins, R., Kelly, P., Lee, S., & McCaig, R. (2004). Management standards and work-related stress in the UK: policy background and science. Work & Stress, 18(2), 91-112. Web.
Mucci, N., Traversini, V., Giorgi, G., Tommasi, E., De Sio, S. & Arcangeli, G. (2019). Migrant workers and psychological health: a systematic review. Sustainability, 12(1), p.120. Web.
Ravalier, J. M. (2019). Psycho-social working conditions and stress in UK social workers. The British Journal of Social Work, 49(2), 371-390.
Syamsia, J. D., Mangani, K. S., & Tewu, M. L. (2021). Analysis of higher education operational risk. Psychology and Education Journal, 58(5), 2252-2261. Web.