Job Stress and ILL-Health among Formal Workers in Cape Coast Metropolis, Ghana

Abstract

In the current global environment, human beings are surrounded by different jobs in which they are required to participate for survival. Consequently, they develop different skills and capacities that enable them to effectively participate in different jobs. Participation in these different jobs creates different stress and health conditions which we need to deal with to continue with our participation and survival. This study examined stress conditions on the job and how they affect the health of lecturers, administrators and health workers in Cape Coast. Using a cross sectional design in a descriptive study and purposive sampling technique, the study recruited 300 participants. Results indicated that while among administrative staff respondents were not always able to take sufficient breaks, among lecturers, colleagues were not often willing to listen to their work related problems and for health workers some tasks had to be neglected because they had too much to do. Finally, it was found that generally, a proportion of the participants had suffered some levels of injury and illnesses that were closely related to stress at their workplaces. There was time pressure and a higher demand of work at workplace with little control over participants’ responsibility of their workloads, especially among administrative staff and health workers. Although the percentages of participants who had suffered injury and illnesses appeared very insignificant, it required a critical consideration. If, for every institution a proportion of its human resources frequently suffer from stress-related injuries and illnesses the implications would be dire for its human resource capacity and work output. It was therefore recommended that heads of departments/institutions provosts, deans, directors, and or managers should properly regulate the time schedule of subordinates they work with to ensure they have sufficient break times, quality interpersonal relationships and reduced work schedules to reduce pressure of work. Very importantly, they should adopt strategies to reduce worker injury and or illnesses to achieve sufficiency in productivity.