Page 46 - Occupational Health & Safety, May 2019

INDUSTRIAL HYGIENE
Stress in the World of Industrial Hygiene: Is It Understood?
How does this stress affect an employee’s health to the point that we need to take it into consideration when evaluating their working environment? Should this stress be included in the evaluation to management as a matter of concern?
BY RALPH BLESSING
42 Occupational Health & Safety | MAY 2019
www.ohsonline.com
The Occupational Safety and Health Admin- istration currently defines industrial hygiene as “the science and art devoted to the antici- pation, recognition, evaluation, and control of those environmental factors or stresses arising in or from the workplace, which may cause sickness, impaired health and well-being, or significant dis- comfort among workers or among the citizens of the community.”
In reviewing this definition, the term “stresses” may surprise some of you as one of the things industri- al hygienists are trained to deal with in the workplace.
Before we go any further, let’s first discuss exactly what stress is.
Cohen (1995) did a superb job in describing stress as “a process in which environmental demands strain an organism’s capacity resulting in both psychological demands as well as biological changes that could place at risk for illness.” Those things that cause us stress are known as stressors, and everyone—wealthy or poor, young or old—is affected by them. Life is full of stress.
Stress can be divided into three theoretical per- spectives: environmental stress, biological stress, and psychological (emotional) stress (Cohen, 1995). The environmental stress perspective is that which assesses environmental situations or experiences as they relate to adaptive demands. The biological stress perspective focuses on certain functions within the physiological
systems of the body that are regulated by psychologi- cally and physically demanding circumstances. And finally, the psychological stress perspective highlights the person’s subjective evaluation of his or her abilities to manage demands associated with situations and ex- periences the person may encounter.
So Why Are These Important?
As industrial hygienists, we need to understand the relationship between stress and illness, although this may be quite complex. If our employees are “stressed out,” are they more susceptible to lower permissible exposure limits (PELs) of certain hazards? There are other factors that would need to be considered to manifest as an illness. These could be genetic vulner- abilities, coping styles, personality types, and support mechanisms.
As a retired Navy veteran and one of the millions of Americans who experience or have experienced stress on many levels, I was trained to evaluate the seriousness of the problem and whether I personally possessed, or could bring to bear, the resources neces- sary to face the problem. If my analysis deemed the problem serious and I could not cope with it, then chances were very likely I would find myself under stress (Lazarus, 1996). This would be my way of react- ing to a situation that could make a difference to my overall well-being or proneness to illness; however, we
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