Female nurses and teachers worst affected by workplace stress
August 11, 2004
Women are more likely than men to suffer strain at work because they occupy the most stressful public sector jobs and are more often the victims of discrimination than men.
A study by Britain's health and safety watchdog has found that teaching and nursing, dominated by women, were the most stressful professions.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which wants employers to take stress at work as seriously as physical injuries, has found more than three in 10 nurses and four in 10 teachers suffered stress at work. The next most stressed group were managers, with 28% reporting "high stress" at work.
The report also found that people between the age of 41 and 50 were more stressed than older or young workers - and people who were divorced or widowed were more at risk than married or single people.
"The reasons for high stress will vary from workplace to workplace but it is likely that demands and workload will contribute substantially to stress among teachers and nurses," a HSE spokesman said. "Feeling supported is often an important factor in reducing stress."
Experts said the increase in the threat of violence towards nurses and teachers had also contributed to rising stress levels in the profession. The NHS Security Management Service found 116,000 incidents of violence and aggression against health service staff last year, an increase from 65,000 in 1998/1999.
Unison, Britain's biggest union, which represents nurses and paramedics, said frontline NHS workers were not only suffering from violence but insults and intimidation from aggressive patients.
"There is an awful lot of verbal abuse that can be very scary. We can be worn down by a constant barrage of abuse and verbal aggression. We need to ensure people's problems are dealt with quickly. This slow drip, drip effect undermines people's confidence and leads to ill health," a Unison spokeswoman said.
The report found the least stressful professions were hairdressing and beauty, where all of those surveyed said they suffered low stress.
Equality groups warned that women were often subjected to stress because they were forced to juggle family and work. Many were also the victims of sexism, harassment and discrimination.
A report published yesterday by the Equal Opportunities Commission found more than 1,000 women a year in the UK took legal action because they were sacked after getting pregnant.
This story was first published on the Independent website.
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