Work related stress is increasingly under the spotlight not only for its consequences on the worker’s health but also the impact on overall productivity.

A recent Lifeline survey showed that nearly 90% of Australians feel unhealthily stressed, mostly caused by their work. Stress is a common factor across different jobs and industry segment. Though more attention has been given to identifying the sources of occupational stress for office or white collar workers, compared to industrial and ‘blue collar’ workers, a number of studies suggest that the Australian commercial building construction industry (CBCI) workers are more prone to the risk of excessive occupational stress that leads to suicide than any other group (Heller, Hawgood & DeLeo, 2007).

Guy McGrath, Joint Managing Director of HomeSource, who has several years of experience of working in the Australian construction industry, believes that stressed workers can have both negative social and economic consequences in the workplace. He believes that the stress of managing small businesses, regardless of whether they are working on small or large projects can impact productivity.

Productivity losses incurred through workplace stress reduce overall business productivity resulting in lower revenue. In fact, stress-related absenteeism is directly costing employers $10.11 billion a year.

A research commissioned by the representative committee from Queensland’s Commercial Building Construction Industry investigated the factors associated with suicide in the industry and found out that in addition to psychological and social factors, work condition was also an important factor that had a negative impact on the mental wellbeing of workers.

Mr McGrath adds that working long hours, bullying and economic instabilities are important factors that negatively affect workers in the construction industry. Building and construction workers typically work 6 days a week, and up to 80 hours each week to meet the demands made by their employers. The long working hours not only impact upon the time spent with family at home, but the quality of this time, with a reduced prospect of participating in leisure activities.

Mr McGrath points out younger workers, especially apprentices and those new to the industry may feel stressed by being the subject of indoctrinated bullying, verbal or physical abuse, intimidation and isolation. Bullying may be in the form of job insecurity, poor pay, work overload, long hours, low job prospects, and sometimes non-existent lunch breaks.

In terms of remedial action, there are a few things that can be done to improve the situation for building and construction workers. Reducing unreasonable pressure on employees associated with unrealistic deadlines, reducing bullying behaviour and reducing weekly working hours for identified or ‘at risk’ employees can be followed up by encouraging and motivating career development pathways, including career and financial advice in apprentice training to help increase workers’ financial security.

HomeSource is Australia’s leading provider of home assistance and advisory products.