Employees feeling stressed and frustrated at work in Massachusetts may be interested to know that the World Health Organization (WHO) is taking notice. Workplace burnout that comes from stress at work is now considered a serious, diagnosable condition by the organization. The controversial topic has been an area of concern for the past several years as medical practitioners and employers have seen first-hand the effects that burnout has on their employees.
According to WHO, employee burnout is typically characterized by continual stress that is not dealt with in a healthy manner. Symptoms may include reduced professional efficacy, feelings of cynicism or negativity toward work and feelings of depletion or exhaustion. Though some employees may have these feelings at certain time periods, such as before a big deadline, employees who feel this stress on most days are at an increased risk of illness and workplace accidents.
When stress levels rise and continue to remain high, studies show that employees tend to not follow workplace safety measures as they should. This may lead to an increased risk of accidents and injuries. Employers should take measures to enforce safety and reduce stress for their employees. This may include offering paid time off, teaching stress reduction classes or offering on-site counseling.
More than four million people are injured at work each year in the United States. Employers have the responsibility to ensure that employees are properly trained and that safety measures are taken to prevent accidents and injuries from occurring. Employees who become injured on the job may be able to file a workers’ compensation claim to receive medical care and disability benefits during the duration of their healing. In this case, an employee under extreme stress may not follow the proper safety guidelines in the workplace. A lawyer may be able to help the employee file a workers’ compensation claim to receive medical care for this injury.
