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3.6C Occupational Health and Safety - Literature Summary

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This is a complete summary of all articles and book chapters of the course. It includes ONLY the relevant information, figures and tables for the exam after filtering for the professor's notes, tutorials, and exam questions. Now, I will not lie to you, this course is dense, hence the high p...

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  • April 22, 2024
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3.6C Occupational Health & Safety - Literature Summary


Problem 1
1.1 What is Stress
Misconceptions about stress
1. You should strive to eliminate all stress in your life
 Stress can have positive implications  Eustress


2. Stress is just “in your head”. It cannot really harm you
3. Stress is really just anxiety or nervous tension. If you could calm
down, then you would not be stressed
 This is an oversimplification
 People can exhibit physiological stress reactions (increased HR and BP)
even when asleep
4. Stress only implies excess, such as too much work or stimulation


Definitions of Stress
Stimulus Definitions
 Stressor  An event/situation in the environment that contributes to or
causes a noxious or disruptive experience  Focuses on the external
forces or demands applied to an object
 Implication of the definition  Stress can be defined using objective or
external criteria  Suggest direct target of change
 Flaws of this definition:
o No two people respond to a stressor identically
o This perspective generally assumes that no stress at all is best 
Untrue


Response Definitions
 Focus on the reaction the organism has to the stressor
 The response can take many forms  Immediate, reflective, physiological
 Strain  Long-term or chronic changes in response to a stressor
 The response to the stressor is always internal (physiological changes in the
body)  BUT it may or many not have over manifestations
 Although the definition acknowledges the influence of other factors 
Emphasis is always on the stress response
 Associated with medical or biological perspectives of stress


 Flaws of this definitions:

, 3.6C Occupational Health & Safety - Literature Summary
o Different responses can be associated with different stressors, and they
may change over time
o The boy may undergo a response very similar to a stress response when
no stimulus is present
o Inadequate because the stressor cannot be ignored
o Knowledge about the stressor is important if any type of intervention is
desired


Stimulus-Response (Interactive) Definitions
 Conceive stress as a result of an interaction between environmental stimuli
(stressors) and individual responses (usually in the form of strains)
 More complex than the previous definitions  Stressor-response
interaction can take many forms depending on both the nature of the stressor
and the response
 Relational definition  Deals with the relationship between the person and
the environment (stimulus) that is appraised by the person as taxing or
exceeding their resources and endangering his or her well-being (response)
 This definition can also accommodate the influence of factors 
Perceptions/appraisals
 Stress (based on this definitions)  Any circumstance (stressor) that places
special physical and/or psychological demands on an organism leading to
physiological, psychological, and behavioural outcomes
o If these demands persist over time  Long-term or chronic
undesirable outcomes or strains may result
 For most stressors  The stress response must be preceded by the
perception that the stressor is indeed threatening or stressful
o A psychological appraisal occurs that determines the severity of the
stressor
o This appraisal may then lead to specific short-term outcomes and
(eventually) chronic outcomes or strains
o The appraisal and outcomes may be affected by characteristics of
the person group, and/or situation:
 Person  High conscientiousness Group  Low group
morale
 Situation  Inadequate equipment or machinery
o These characteristics are often referred to as stress modifiers or
moderators
  Stress  A function of the stressor(s), psychological appraisal, short-term
stress outcome(s), strains, and stress moderators
o Stimuli become stressors only when perceived as such
 At that point, any type and number of modifiers can influence
the link between the stressor and its outcome
o Once perceived as stressful  The stimulus triggers a series of short-
term physiological, psychological, and behavioural outcomes
 If the stressor remains over time  The short-term
outcomes can become more serious
 Stressors may be either chronic or acute:
o Chronic  When the stressor persists over time

, 3.6C Occupational Health & Safety - Literature Summary
Depends on whether the stressor is removed entirely or at
least attenuated
o Acute  When a stressor is first appraised as stressful




The Psychology of Stress: The Role of Appraisal
 Responses to an environmental stressor (heat) depend on different
factors:
o The overall number and strength of the stressor encountered
o The person’s ability to cope with them
 The psychological interpretation of these stimuli is critical for predicting if
and how much stress is perceived
 Cognitive appraisal  Evaluative process of the stressor
o Psychological stressors must be appraised as stressful before they
are truly stressors  Stress is in the eye of the beholder
o Appraisal occurs at two different points:
 Primary appraisal  When the situation is perceived as
being stressful
 Is the situation stressful?
 Secondary appraisal  When some type of response is
consciously chosen
 What can I do about it?
o Reappraisal  Can occur based on feedback from
primary/secondary appraisals

, 3.6C Occupational Health & Safety - Literature Summary



The Physiology of Stress
 The body undergoes a well-established sequence of physiological
reactions
 Physiological reactions are assumed to be qualitatively similar (but not
identical) regardless of the stimuli that provoked them


The Fight or Flight Response (F/F)
 When faced with a threat (stressor)  The organism’s body prepares for
combat or run to safety  Changes in nerves and glands in the body
happens
 When the organism perceives a stressor  A message is sent to the
hypothalamus
 The hypothalamus immediately activates the autonomic nervous system
(ANS)
o Specifically the sympathetic branch  Prepares the body into an
aroused state
o The sympathetic nerve fibers release noradrenaline
(norepinephrine)  Regulates body functions
o Through the release of noradrenaline  Increased heart rate, brain
alertness, BP  Constriction of blood vessels
 Almost simultaneously with the sympathetic activity  The hypothalamus
activates the medulla of the adrenal glands
o The medulla releases catecholamines  Noradrenaline and
adrenaline (80%)
 Bodily changes of this process  Commonly associated with stress
o Hair erection (goosebumps)
o Dilated pupils
o Decreased digestive activity and vasoconstriction of blood vessels
 Limit the biological activities that are not absolutely necessary to
deal with the stressor

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