Stress Busters

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Stress Busters

• Team Leaders Guide to Understanding
• and Managing the Impact of Stress

Presented by Sheila Sharemet
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Background/Context

• Key objective HSSE Plan is to reinforce the a
  Stress Awareness Program started in 2005
• 3 stress related DAFWCs during 2005
• In BP stress recognized as a significant issue
• Globally - recognized as a major occupational
  health problem
• US 40 of all workers feel that their jobs are
  very stressful
• UK most common cause of absence in the
  workplace.
• Potentially high costs for the company

Wheres my report??
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The Evolution of Work
The nature of work has evolved over the last 20
years
The business model has changed

• - Complex patterns of business relationships
• Empowerment
• Individual responsibility
• Greater accountability
• Increased workload

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Pressure / Performance Curve
Optimal performance
Overload
Fatigue, poor judgment and decision-making
Performance
Exhaustion / onset of serious health problems
Burnout
Rust-out
Demands or Pressure
How does stress affect people??
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Stress Busters Objectives

• Raise awareness of the causes and effects of
  stress
• Encourage and support the use of good practice
  and preventative measures by Team Leaders and
  employees
• Develop and understand how to recognize signs of
  stress in self and others and ensure the correct
  intervention in taken
• Identify supporting materials, resources,
  networks, training, etc

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Stress Management Strategy
1. Understanding

• Raised Awareness
• Better understanding creating a safe
  environment to report
• Identification who, where, when, what, why

2. Prevention

• Taking targeted measures based on identified
  stressors
• Mgt practices and work conditions
• Function, Team and individual ownership

• Programs to assist staff in understanding and
  coping with stress / improving resilience and
  tools to look after individual health and
  well-being
• e.g. Training, Personal Health Assessments,
  Exercise, Relaxation tools

3. Personal Coping Strategies
4. Intervention / Treatment

• Intervention to facilitate recovery / access
  treatment
• HR, Occupational Health, EAP (employee
  assistance programs)
• Counseling, Medical treatment)

Issue
Incident
poor morale DAFWC / sick leave
permanent health damage nervous
breakdown suicide
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Clear Responsibilities

• Company
• taking reasonably practicable actions to reduce
  risks
• ensuring that work activity does not adversely
  impact health of staff.
• Supervisor
• work does not make team members ill.
• maintain vigilance of pressures that staff are
  under and seek
• solutions to relieve the pressures so they
  dont become excessive.
• Individual
• notifying their team leader of any shortcomings
  or issues relating to
• stress in themselves or others.
• if youre feeling stressed, seek assistance
  (EAP, Family, TL, work
• colleagues, HR, OH)

RWT / SLM Aug 2002
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Preventative Plan

• Educate yourself on what causes stress in the
  workplace and actively work to minimize those
  things within your control
• Fulfill your personal commitment to staff
• Lead by example
• Have an open and understanding attitude
• Set the team culture
• Give regular feedback on good/not so good

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Preventative

• Find out if stress could be a problem for anyone
  in your team
• Team Assessment
• Whats causing high and long-lasting levels of
  stress
• What are you doing to prevent harm
• Review assessment periodically, especially when
  significant changes occur
• Check your assessment by involving the team
• What are the three best/exciting and the three
  worst aspects of the job and whether these put
  the staff under excessive pressure.

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Prevention

• Work to eliminate or manage internal issues that
  are affecting your staff and causing them anxiety
• Understand your own physiological response to
  stressors and work to change your reaction to a
  proactive stance

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Available Tools

• Stress Busters
• Training pack and facilitated session at either
  Team Leader or Team level.
• Awareness of impact of stress in team and
  understanding of how to handle a case
• Team ownership of issues and solutions to
  prevent work related stress
• Results in review of team processes
• Team Leader session 2.5hrs Team session 4hrs
• Stress Tools
• Web-based stress risk assessments (task-based,
  team-based or future focused)
• Data can be presented in different formats
• Requires team session to review feedback
• Personal Coping Strategies
• Wide range of personal stress management classes
• Local health programs and challenges

Research has found that support at work,
particularly from managers for their staff, has a
protective effect front line prevention by the
organization is better than third party cure.
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Support

• The following sources of assistance are
  available
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Occupational Health
• Counseling
• Human Resources
• Medical Treatment
• Health Promotion/Wellness Programs
• HSSE
• Recognize that stress cases are not always clear
  cut and can be quite complex depending upon the
  circumstances
• Intervention and treatment may involve all, some
  or a combination of the above options
• NOTE All of these sources of assistance are
  confidential

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Support

• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Independent, confidential, free service offering
  advice
• and counseling
• Occupational Health (OH)
• Provide medical assessment and professional
  advice to
• the individual
• Advice on managing employees whose
• physical/psychological capacity and
  consequent job
• capabilities are temporarily or permanently
  modified as
• the result of health problems.
• Return-to-work medical assessment following
  absence related to illness/injury
• Referral of employees to their medical
  practitioner or for specialist care, if needed
• Counseling
• EAP and/or OH can provide advise on specialized
  counseling

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Support

• Counseling
• EAP and/or OH can provide advise on
• specialized counseling
• Human Resources
• Provide clarification on HR policies
• Facilitator role
• Support investigation
• HSSE
• Provide advice on process and support
  investigation
• Comply with HSSE reporting requirements
• Medical Treatment
• Provided through personal physician or specialist
  medical
• practitioners

• Onsite Wellness Center and Programs
• Physically- helps cope with the physical
• manifestations of stress
• Change in location and a shift of perspective
• and focus