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Workplace
Stress:
It's
enough to make
your
employees sick |
Workplace
Stress
Rising
Health Care Costs
Health
Effects from Workplace Stress
Cost
of Diabetes
Cost
of Obesity
Cost
of Alcoholism
Productivity is up and
so are the number of "bummed out, frazzled and overwhelmed"
employees. Combined with the rising cost of health care and
health insurance, an aging workforce, and global competitiveness,
the U.S. business community is under attack.
While economists, politicians,
academics and the media debate the intensity of the The
Perfect Labor Storm, employers and their profits are being blown
away by this skilled worker crisis. What is not debated even
iota is the skyrocketing cost of health care.
One of the most insidious and overlooked causes of these increases
are health conditions caused or worsened by workplace stress.
What follows are the hard, cold facts of the devastating effects
of stress on workers and the unique unrecoverable costs begin absorbed
by employers. Just like the saturated ground after days of
torrential rains, bottom lines have absorbed all they can take.
To survive The Perfect
Labor Storm, employers must first understand that prolonged workplace
stress cannot be accepted as "just a fact of life of doing
business". Employers have a choice - accept workplace
stress as normal and allow the following ravages of stress to overwhelm
their workforce or do something about it. .
Success Performance Solutions
offers a solution to workplace stress. Job matching is a proven
solution for placing the right people in the right job on the right
teams in the right businesses. Job matching also reduces workplace
stress by offering the recognition and rewards that employees value,
a motivating culture, and energizing jobs.
Read more about Solutions
for Workplace Stress here or contact us
to qualify for a FREE 30-minute consultation.
Workplace Stress
62
percent of American workers say their workload has increased over
the last six months. (Source: Kronos, Inc.)
53
percent of American workers say work leaves them “overtired and
overwhelmed”.
(Source:
Kronos, Inc.)
30
percent of workers say they are “always” or “often” under stress
at work.
(Source: National Opinion Research Center )
54
percent of workers often come home in a sense of fatigue.
(Source:
LLuminari® Landmark Study)
2
out of 5 workers experience distress due to too much pressure or
mental fatigue at work. (Source: LLuminari® Landmark Study)
1
out of 5 workers are at risk for stress related health problems.
(Source:
LLuminari® Landmark Study)
1
in 10 are so tired at the end of the work day that they do not enjoy
their non-work time. (Source: LLuminari® Landmark Study)
62
percent of workers don't think their employer tries to minimize
unnecessary stress.
(Source: LLuminari® Landmark Study)
Half
of employees don't think their employer has an interest in their
well-being.
(Source:
LLuminari® Landmark Study)
1
in 5 stated that their work regularly interfered with their responsibilities
at home and kept them from spending time with their family.
(Source:
LLuminari® Landmark Study)
Workplace
stress costs the nation more than $300 billion each year in health
care, missed work and stress reduction efforts.
(Source:
American Institute of Stress)
Workers
who report they are stressed incur health care costs that are 46
percent higher, or $600 more per person, than other employees.
(Source:
NIOSH)
The
risk of a heart attack doubled among permanent after a major round
of downsizing, with the risk growing to five times normal after
four years.
(British
Medical Journal, 2/2004)
In
workplaces that underwent large-scale expansions, workers were 7
percent more likely to take sick leave of 90 days or more and 9
percent more likely to enter a hospital for some reason.
(Source:
National Institute for Psychosocial Medicine)
Workers
in organizations that were in transition had higher than average
levels of cholesterol, blood pressure, and other biochemical markers
of heart disease risk.
(Source:
National Institute for Psychosocial Medicine)
Rising
Health Care Costs
In 2003, employer costs
for employee health insurance benefits reported by the Bureau of
Labor Statistics (BLS) averaged $1.71 per employee hour, an 11.2
increase over the $1.54 per hour average in 2002.
(Source: Employment Policy
Foundation, Employment Trends)
Only 45 percent (Source: BLS) of private-sector employees are covered
by or participate in employer-sponsored programs, employers who
provide health insurance benefits experienced on average cost of
$3,80 per hour for participating employees in 2003. That cost
has more than doubled in four years.
(Source: Employment Policy
Foundation, Employment Trends)
What
are the health effects resulting from stressful work conditions?
-
2x the rate of heart
and cardiovascular problems
-
2x to 3x the rate of
anxiety, depression and demoralization
-
2x the rate of substance
abuse
-
2x to 3x the rate of
infectious diseases
-
5x the rate of certain
cancers
-
3x the rate of back
pain
-
2x to 3x the rate of
conflicts
-
2x to 3x the rated
of injuries
- Chronic distress at work contributes to abdominal obesity
(Source: Lluminari®
Landmark Study)
Cost
of Diabetes
The
total annual economic cost of diabetes in 2002 was estimated to
be $132 billion, or one out of every 10 health care dollars spent
in the United States.
Direct medical expenditures totaled $92
billion and comprised $23.2 billion for diabetes care, $24.6 billion
for chronic diabetes-related complications, and $44.1 billion for
excess prevalence of general medical conditions. Indirect costs
resulting from lost workdays, restricted activity days, mortality,
and permanent disability due to diabetes totaled $40.8 billion.
The per capita annual costs of health
care for people with diabetes rose from $10,071 in 1997 to $13,243
in 2002, an increase of more than 30%. In contrast, health care
costs for people without diabetes amounted to $2,560 in 2002.
Direct Costs of
Diabetes
-
Estimated at $92 billion
in 2002, compared to $44 billion in 1997.
-
Represents 19% of total
personal health care expenditures in the U.S. However, diagnosed
diabetes patients account for only 4.2% of the total U.S. population.
-
$40.3 billion was spent
for inpatient hospital care and $13.8 billion for nursing home
care for people with diabetes.
-
Diabetes-related hospitalizations
totaled 16.9 million days in 2002. Rates of outpatient care
were highest for physician office visits, which included 62.6
million visits to treat persons with diabetes.
-
Cardiovascular disease
is the most costly complication of diabetes, accounting for
more than $17.6 billion of the $91.8 billion annual direct medical
costs for diabetes in 2002.
Indirect Costs
of Diabetes
-
Estimated to be $40
billion in 2002.
-
In 2002, diabetes accounted
for a loss of nearly 88 million disability days.
-
176,000 cases of permanent
disability were caused by diabetes, at a cost of $7.5 billion.
Cost
of Obesity
Taxpayers
foot the doctor's bill for more than half of obesity-related medical
costs, which reached a total of $75 billion in 2003, according to
a new study.
The
public pays about $39 billion a year -- or about $175 per person
-- for obesity through Medicare and Medicaid programs, which cover
sicknesses caused by obesity including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular
disease, several types of cancer and gallbladder disease.
What is the
cost of overweight and obesity?
Total
cost: $117 billion , Direct cost: $61 billion,* Indirect cost: $56
billion (comparable to the economic costs of cigarette smoking)
What is the
cost of heart disease related to overweight and obesity?
Direct
cost: $8.8 billion (17 percent of the total direct cost of heart
disease, independent of stroke)
What is the
cost of type 2 diabetes related to overweight and obesity?
Total
cost: $98 billion (in 2001)
What is the
cost of osteoarthritis related to overweight and obesity?
Total
cost: $21.2 billion, Direct cost: $5.3 billion, Indirect cost: $15.9
billion
What is the
cost of hypertension (high blood pressure) related to overweight
and obesity?
Direct cost: $4.1 billion (17 percent of the total cost of hypertension)
What is the
cost of gallbladder disease related to overweight and obesity?
Total
cost: $3.4 billion, Direct cost: $3.2 billion, Indirect cost: $187
million
What is the
cost of cancer related to overweight and obesity?
Breast cancer: Total cost: $2.9 billion, Direct cost: $1.1 billion,
Indirect cost: $1.8 billion
Endometrial
cancer: Total cost: $933 million, Direct cost: $310 million, Indirect
cost: $623 million
Colon
cancer: Total cost: $3.5 billion, Direct cost: $1.3 billion, Indirect
cost: $2.2 billion
What is the
cost of lost productivity related to obesity?
The
cost of lost productivity related to obesity (BMI > 30) among
Americans ages 17–64 is $3.9 billion. This value considers the following
annual numbers (for 1994):
- Workdays lost related
to obesity: 39.3 million
- Physician office
visits related to obesity: 62.7 million
- Restricted activity
days related to obesity: 239.0 million
- Bed-days related
to obesity: 89.5 million
Cost
of Alcoholism
Alcoholism causes 500
million lost work days annually. Absenteeism among alcoholics or
problem drinkers is 3.8 to 8.3 times greater than normal (Bernstein
& Mahoney, op. cit.) and up to 16 times greater among all employees
with alcohol and other drug-related problems.
(US Department of Labor)
Family members of alcoholics and substance users use ten times as
much sick leave and have higher than average health care claims
than family members of non alcoholic and substance using families.
(HSS and NCADD Fact Sheet)
Up to 40 percent of industrial fatalities can be linked to alcohol
use. Forty-seven percent of all industrial injuries are attributed
to alcohol use.
(NCADD Fact Sheet)
60% of alcohol-related work performance problems can be attributed
to employees who are not alcohol dependent, but who occasionally
drink too much on a work night or drink during a weekday lunch
(JSI Research & Training Institute)
Drug-using employees take three times as many sick benefits as other
workers. They are five times more likely to file a worker's compensation
claim
(Strategic Planning for Workplace Drug Abuse Programs, NIDA)
Alcoholism causes 500 million lost work days annually. Absenteeism
among alcoholics or problem drinkers is 3.8 to 8.3 times greater
than normal (Bernstein & Mahoney, op. cit.) and up to 16 times
greater among all employees with alcohol and other drug-related
problems.
(US Department of Labor)
Family members of alcoholics and substance users use ten times as
much sick leave and have higher than average health care claims
than family members of non alcoholic and substance using families.
(HSS and NCADD Fact Sheet)
Up to 40 percent of industrial fatalities can be linked to alcohol
use. Forty-seven percent of all industrial injuries are attributed
to alcohol use.
(NCADD Fact Sheet)
60% of alcohol-related
work performance problems can be attributed to employees who are
not alcohol dependent, but who occasionally drink too much on a
work night or drink during a weekday lunch
(JSI Research & Training Institute)
Drug-using employees take three times as many sick benefits as other
workers. They are five times more likely to file a worker's compensation
claim.
(Strategic Planning for Workplace Drug Abuse Program)
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