Every job has a unique set of pressures and stresses that comes along with it. When people get together and talk about work, workplace stress, and the demands of their jobs are often topics of conversation which everyone can weigh in on. While some workplace stresses are unique to particular jobs, many people can relate to a specific type of corporate culture that is unfortunately very common in today’s workplaces. The pressure to work faster and longer is pervasive in American workplaces. Aside from being stressful for employees, this type of workplace culture is proving to be dangerous.
It is this pressure to work at a fast pace for long hours that is turning jobs that do not appear from the outside to be overly stressful or demanding into occupations with a high risk of injury, illness or death from workplace accidents. If you’re a health care worker, hotel housekeeper, restaurant server, delivery driver, or even someone who works lots of extra hours at the office, you know what we’re talking about. Overwork is no joke, and when you and your coworkers talk about the stresses of your workplaces and the demands that wear you thin, you’re not merely griping. You’re acknowledging a dangerous trend in American workplaces where companies are trying to get more out of their employees each hour that they work while simultaneously asking them to clock more and more time on the job.
Injuries, deaths, and illnesses caused by overwork often go unnoticed because the connection between the injuries, deaths, and diseases and the individual’s workplace is not always acknowledged. The employees who get sick, hurt, and killed by overwork don’t often fall ill, get injured, or die at work. Less than fourteen percent of work-related deaths occur at work. The stresses of overwork often manifest as long-term physical and mental health problems that cause the individuals affected by them a great deal of pain and suffering before they die.
One of the ways that the do more, faster, and more often workplace culture raises the risk of injury, illness, and death is by creating work schedules that are not compatible with a healthy work-life balance. Humans are not designed to work around the clock like machines, producing hour after hour, day after day. We are created to live in relationship with others, to care for and enjoy time with friends and family. When we must work long hours at an exhausting pace to secure basic needs for ourselves and our families, our health, as well as our relationships, suffer. The same happens when we choose to work more hours so that we have more money to spend on things that we want that are not necessities. The stress caused by difficulties in managing the tension between life at work and life outside of work can contribute to sickness, injury, and even death.
If overwork or stress has contributed to a workplace injury or illness in your life, you may be able to pursue a workplace accident claim. To learn more about how to pursue a workplace accident claim, call the Mississippi Workplace Accident Attorney at Barrett Law PLLC today, at 1 (800) 707-9577.