Your Workplace May Be Toxic for Your Health

Does your job have repeated intense physical exertion? Are you exposed to unpleasant and potentially hazardous working conditions? What about hostile or threatening workplaces? Are your deadlines reasonable, or do you have too much to do in not enough time? Do you take time out of your personal life to do work, all for a dead end job?

If any of this sounds familiar to you, you’re not alone. QZ just reported on a survey from the Rand Corporation that found the following:

  • Nearly three-fourths of Americans report either intense or repetitive physical exertion on the job at least one-quarter of the time.
  • More than one-half of Americans report exposure to unpleasant and potentially hazardous working conditions.
  • Nearly one in five Americans are exposed to a hostile or threatening social environment at work, such as unwanted sexual attention and verbal abuse.
  • Most Americans (two-thirds) frequently work at high speeds or under tight deadlines, and one in four perceives that they have too little time to do their job.
  • About one-half of American workers do some work in their free time to meet work demands.
  • Only 38% of workers state that their job offers good prospects for advancement.

To keep reading, click here: Your Workplace May Be Toxic for Your Health

Related Posts

One thought on “Your Workplace May Be Toxic for Your Health

  1. Equating “unpleasant” with “potentially hazardous” is a pretty strong indication the survey was skewed towards the result provided. It’s unpleasant to work near someone who eats pungent food every day; however, it is not hazardous in any rational sense of the word. Actual hazards include things like working around heavy machinery, high voltage, toxic chemicals, and the like.

    Similarly, “…do some work in their free time to meet work demands” is vague to the point of meaninglessness. Every job has intense periods; that’s the nature of employment. Unless your job requires you to be on-site, it’s inevitable to a certain degree. The question is, is this routine, periodic, or rare? Seasonal fluctuations need to be accounted for (tax prep folks are going to work harder in April, insurance agents during hurricane season, etc).

    As for the fourth point, the website Manager Tools directly and openly calls for managers to create such environments. They argue that staff SHOULD feel some discomfort–that they have a bit more to do than they can. It’s part of career development: learning to prioritize.

    These are just a few of the issues. All told, this survey strikes me as very leading, and I have serious doubts about the quality of the data it provides.

Comments are closed.

Are you looking for a new HR job? Or are you trying to hire a new HR person? Either way, hop on over to Evil HR Jobs, and you'll find what you're looking for.