rking environments where stress is only visible in small amounts. Stress and anxiety will be researched collectively but more specifically how to prevent excessive levels. Promotion of programs to implement strategies to help alleviate this concern will also be discussed.Overview of StressWhat is Stress? "Stress - The confusion created when one's mind overrides the body's basic desire to choke the hell out of someone who so desperately deserves it" (Author unknown). There are many biological, engineering and physiological definitions of stress but, the definition above is the most simplified and applicable in today's fast moving business world. A more classical "engineering" definition cited by R. Kahn (1992) used during the 18th and 19th centuries described stress as "A force or pressure exerted upon a material object, or person". Stress as defined by Quick, Horn and Quick (1987),"is a naturally occurring experience essential to our growth, change development both at work and at home. Depending on the way stress is handled it may have a detrimental effect on our health and well-being or it may have a beneficial effect". In order to have stress there must be a stressor, or a physical or physiological stimulus to encourage the onset of stress response. A physical stressor in a manufacturing setting may be noise, heat, dust, mist, fumes, poor lighting etc (Evans, Cohen 1987). Psychological stressors could be items such as conflicting views with a manager or, seemingly unattainable deadlines. Problems at home may compound these issues when they are presented in an occupational situation. Stress may be caused by many different situations in the various environments that people are a part of each day. Occupational Stress At work, some stress factors may be; the possibility or reality of losing your job, poor supervision, lack of goals, rotating shifts and the inability to keep up with technology. The rate of change in technology may be one...
