Individual response

Some people show an acute reaction to stress. In others, the symptoms may appear over time, and may be mistaken for other health problems.

An immediate acute reaction is like panic, with anxiety, racing pulse, flushing, sweating, dry mouth or trembling. Severe sustained stress can cause headaches, dizziness, blurred vision, aching neck and shoulders, or skin rashes.

Look out for:

• poor performance at work, including uncharacteristic errors, memory lapses, indecisiveness;
• withdrawal of interest or commitment — arriving late, leaving early;
• aggressive behaviour, such as bullying or criticising others;
• immature or emotional behaviour, such as crying, sulking or temper; and
• fixation — for example, repeating arguments in meetings, refusing to listen to suggestions, insisting on using inadequate solutions.

• the type of work they do-too boring or too difficult,
• too much responsibility or too little, never meeting
• the public or constantly facing their complaints
• the people they work with - their boss or their colleagues
• pay and conditions;
• lack of support or communication within the organisation — feeling isolated or ill-informed;
• an ill-defined role or conflicting priorities;
• the system of control, rules and rewards — rigid, lax or inconsistent
• failing to do something well enough; and
• career prospects:
  • frustration;
  • insecurity;
  • limited promotion;
  • over promotion;
  • lack of recognition; and
  • insufficient training.

In the legal framework of health and safety, stressors can be a workplace hazard, and should be managed and controlled in the same way as other hazards through risk assessment. However, this type is difficult to do. Stressors can be hard to spot, and their effects are not easy to predict with any degree of certainty.

The first step is to know what you are dealing with through risk assessment. Then you can plan how to tackle the problem using the principles of good management practice.