Psihična obremenjenost na delovnem mestu - pojavljanje, prepoznavanje in obvladovanje : prikaz preverjanja modela RH v realnem delovnem okolju
Workplace - related mental overload - occurrence, identification and management : RH-model verification in real work environment

slovenian

2008

volume 47, issue 1

Inštitut za varovanje zdravja RS
(Obvezni izvod spletne publikacije)

Mental overload due to changing workplace conditions, economic transition, population aging and globalisation has been increasingly encountered in our work environment. In Slovenia, like in many other countries, psychical strain is a result of changes in the labour market. There has been an increase in theproportion of people employed in service industries. These jobs involve heavy mental strain, and the number of employees perceiving stress and suffering from stress-induced diseases has been constantly growing. The effectiveness of mental overload management significantly depends on the work environment in which mental strain occurs. Root analysis of workplace-related mental overload showed that it is caused by specific factors related to working conditions and depends on the individual's ability to cope with new demands and changed working conditions. Mental strain-reducing measures shouldtherefore be tailored to meet the specific needs of work environment. This paper presents a group of 39 service industry workers experiencing job-related mental strain. Employees in the state of mental overload were identified by an analysis of well-being, conducted in a representative sample of 219 workers (20% of the company's workforce). Focused analysis and individual counselling identified some common characteristics of the group andspecific features of individuals in the subsample. Significant impact of family circumstances and private problems on mental overload was identified. Inadequate education, unrealized ambitions, late first job and the resulting insufficient number of years of service were found to be factors largely responsible for workers' mental overload. Appropriate measures to reduce workplace-related overload were formulated on the basis of the results of the above mentioned well-being study of 219 workers and focused analysis of a subsample of 39 workers. The suggested interventions focused on individual workers and were directed towards changes in the work environment. The aim was to improve well-being of workers and to empower them to cope better with heavy mental strain when it appears. All the suggested activities focused on the prevention of burnout, mental exhaustion and psychosomatic diseases. The paper presents verification of the AH model in the real work environment witha special emphasis on the AH model component human resources "M".

16.09.2009