Workload

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Load and stress as a mechanical model

Under workload refers to all environmental influences , requirements and working conditions in the working system , which the organism or the psyche of a worker as load act.

General

Every job consists of demands and loads; Requirements are the positive challenges of the task to the staff . They enable workers to contribute their experience , skills and knowledge and to develop them further through work ( learning by doing ). Stresses, on the other hand, are working conditions that are to be avoided because they can hinder work through unnecessary error costs and have negative effects on the health of the worker . Physical stress has an external effect on the body (such as an unheated workplace in winter), psychological stress comes from the outside and has a psychological effect on it (such as conflicts with colleagues).

According to DIN EN ISO 6385: 2016-12 principles of ergonomics for the design of work systems , workload is the "totality of external conditions and requirements in the work system that affect the physiological and / or psychological state of a person". Correctly dosed workload promotes the working person; On the other hand, stress that is not adequately adapted to one's performance leads to incorrect stress with mostly unfavorable consequences, also for the quality of work. The resulting errors affect the workflow .

Types of stress factors

A distinction must be made between task-related and other burdens.

In so-called occupations with a high workload ( English high strain jobs ) it is considered particularly harmful to health if a high level of demands and a low level of self-control (in the sense of one's own decisions ) coincide. According to this, the health of those people are endangered by work stress who are constantly subject to high demands, for example by intensifying work , while at the same time control and the freedom to make decisions are limited when performing the tasks. Typical examples are industrial workers on the assembly line , salespeople in the supermarket or employees in call centers . High work demands are also placed on senior managers or doctors in the hospital, but they usually have greater scope for control and decision-making.

The workload summarizes the partial loads from the work environment and includes perceptible and imperceptible factors. Quantifiable partial loads are referred to as exposure variables. Only qualitatively measurable partial loads are referred to as load factors . Load is an impact variable and stress is an impact variable. The picture shows this connection. According to this model, the level of stress depends not only on the level of stress and its duration of exposure, but also on the individual characteristics, abilities and skills of the worker. That means,

  • the same stress can lead to different levels of stress in different people and
  • a time-dependent deterioration in the properties that are important for the execution of the work ( fatigue ) results in an increase in the stress with constant stress and the same person.

Legal issues

The workload is an indirect subject of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (ArbSchG). Among other things, this law results in the employer's obligation to assess the risk of work processes . With appropriate prevention , effectiveness monitoring and documentation, it must be ensured that stress caused by work does not cause physical or psychological damage. According to § 4 ArbSchG, the employer has to assume, among other things, that the work is to be designed in such a way that a risk to life and physical and mental health is avoided as far as possible and the remaining risk is kept as low as possible when taking occupational safety measures . In addition, measures are to be planned with the aim of appropriately linking technology, work organization, other working conditions, social relationships and the influence of the environment on the workplace. According to Section 5 (3) ArbSchG, a hazard can arise in particular from the design and furnishings of the workplace and the workplace , physical, chemical and biological effects, the design, selection and use of work equipment, in particular of working materials, machines, devices and systems as well as the handling of them, the design of work and production processes, work processes and working hours and their interaction, insufficient qualification and instruction of employees or psychological stress at work.

In the collective bargaining agreement on the general remuneration agreement (ERA-TV), the workload is included as a separate pillar in the remuneration calculation . Accordingly, the divided pay in a base charge (measured from the working requirements), a load compensation and a service fee . Only burdens that exceed a medium burden are compensated for via the burden allowance. This also creates an incentive in terms of pay to reduce unfavorable burdens through work structuring, instead of paying for them month after month.

Causes and Assessment

The workload increases with increased work intensity , work intensification , working hours ( overtime ), increased deadline pressure , competition among employees, as well as with excessive or under-challenged and over-employed and under-employed . The workload varies depending on the phase in the work curve. It is lowest in the morning and after work breaks.

In performance reviews , employee reviews or official assessments is resilience often a criterion. This soft skill measures the physical and psychological resources that a person can mobilize in order to react to objectively acting stressors . Resilience means that in the event of a particularly high workload ( e.g. under-staffing / over-staffing , time or deadline pressure ), a worker is able to cope with their usual work performance without impairment and thereby demonstrates resilience .

consequences

Special, temporary workloads can lead to rewards such as special recovery times ( special leave ) or, depending on the type and amount, to bonus payments or burden allowances (such as foreign allowances ).

The work load is the personal effects of the workload from a work activity on the work force. This effect can manifest itself, among other things, as work suffering , in any case decreasing job satisfaction , burnout , higher error rate , stress , sleep disorders or tinnitus .

See also

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Udo Meißner / Peter von Mitschke-Collande / Günter Nitsche (eds.), CAD in construction: decision-making aids for organization, technology and work , 1992, p. 128
  2. ↑ Udo Meißner / Peter von Mitschke-Collande / Günter Nitsche (eds.), CAD in construction: decision-making aids for organization, technology and work , 1992, p. 128
  3. ^ Peter Richter / Winfried Hacker, stress and strain , 1998, p. 24 f.
  4. ↑ DIN 33400-1983-10
  5. ↑ Udo Meißner / Peter von Mitschke-Collande / Günter Nitsche (eds.), CAD in construction: decision-making aids for organization, technology and work , 1992, p. 129
  6. ↑ a b REFA Association for Work Studies and Business Organization (ed.): Methodology of Work Studies. Part 1: Basics. Hanser, Munich 1971, ISBN 3-446-14234-7 , pp. 159-161.
  7. ↑ Jens Gäbert / Brigitte Maschmann-Schulz: Codetermination in health protection: Action aid for works councils . Bund-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2008, ISBN 978-3-7663-3870-9 .
    Michael Kittner / Ralf Pieper: Occupational Health and Safety Act: Basic commentary with the new noise and vibration occupational health and safety ordinance. Bund-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2007, ISBN 978-3-7663-3788-7 .
  8. ↑ Discrimination in collective agreements, part 6.2. (PDF; 243 kB) In: ERA-Wissen 2004/08. IGM, accessed June 26, 2008 . 255. .
  9. ↑ Thomas Städtler, Lexikon der Psychologie , 2003, p. 65