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| Stress Builds across UK Construction A majority of UK construction professionals surveyed by the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) felt that the construction industry today is more stressful than it was five years ago. Almost 1000 construction managers and other professionals took part in the CIOB research to establish whether occupational stress is occurring within the construction industry. The research studied the main causes of occupational stress by examining different areas of the individual's role within the organisation, including physical work environment, the organisation itself and other construction specific potential stressors such as site safety and public misconceptions of the industry. Although respondents worked for various types of organisations the largest group (41%) were employed in companies with more than 500 employees and were aged between 25 and 55. Of the 68% to have suffered from stress, anxiety or depression only 27% had sought medical advice, and only 6% of those who had experienced occupational stress had taken time off and were still working. Skills shortages are also a cause of occupational health issues, with 55% of respondents indicating that inadequate staffing levels was a factor in causing stress. Michael Brown CIOB deputy chief executive said, "The Health and Safety Executive have estimated that across all industries almost 13 million working days were lost to stress, depression and anxiety and occupational stress costs businesses at least £4bn." write your comments about the article :: © 2006 Construction News :: home page |