BIBB/BAuA 2012
Working at the limit
Higher demands, more negative health outcomes
24 baua: Facts
Those who frequently work at the limits of their capacities often face additional mental and physical demands at work. They tend to feel more burdened and more frequently suffer from psychosomatic complaints such as fatigue, exhaustion, or irritability. In addition, they increasingly report musculos- keletal complaints, such as pain in the shoulder and neck area. In the BIBB/BAuA Employment Sur- vey 2012, psychosomatic complaints were reported more often than musculoskeletal complaints.
Previous analyses of the BIBB/BAuA Employment Survey 2012 have shown that around 16 % of employees often work at the limit of their capacities. 74 % of them expe- rience this as a burden1. In the nursing occupations, the reported workload is even higher, with 30 % often working at the limit of their capacities and 85 % feeling burdened by it2. Additional demands from employers add to this bur- den3. What exactly are these demands? And which health- related consequences result from working at the limit? To answer these questions, this fact sheet provides informati- on on employees subject to social insurance requirements who were interviewed in the BIBB/BAuA Employment Sur- vey 2012 (n = 17,562). The most affected group included employees in the nursing occupations, including health care nurses, paediatric nurses, midwives, maternity nur- ses, and geriatric nurses. This group will therefore be con- sidered separately (n = 728).
Mental demands
When employees often reach their capacity limits, this of- ten goes along with high mental demands arising from their activity (Fig. 1). Thus 83 % of them experience pres- sure to meet deadlines or pressure to perform. Among employees who sometimes, rarely, or never reach their li- mit, only 46 % indicate this pressure. Likewise, those who often manage multiple tasks or processes at the same time, work very quickly, and are disturbed or interrupted at work more often work at the limits of their capacities.
Among employees who only sometimes, rarely, or never reach their capacity limits, 8 % report emotional stress.
Among those frequently working at the limit, this propor- tion is almost four times as high (31 %). Employees in the
nursing occupations frequently working at the limit of their capacities are almost twice as likely to experience emotio- nal burdens (57 %) than colleagues who do not often work at the limits of their capacities (30 %).
All professions Nursing professions
83 83
77 88
71 82
63 81
31 57
46 58
55 65
33 43
41
100 80 60 40 20 0 20 40 60 80 100
Great time pressure or pressure to perform
Work very quickly
Emotional stress
Work at the limits
of capacity: frequently sometimes, rarely, never Manage multiple
tasks or processes at the same time
Disturbed or
interrupted at work 49
8 30
Fig. 1 Mental work demands on employees subject to social in- surance requirements who frequently or sometimes, rarely, or never reach the limit of their capacities (in %)
Physical demands
Physical workplace demands also affect those who often work at the limit of their capacity (Fig. 2). Compared to those who only sometimes, rarely, or never experience such working conditions, they are twice as likely to report physi- cal stress such as frequently lifting and carrying heavy loads (40 % vs. 19 %) and frequently working in forced postures (28 % vs. 14 %). In the nursing occupations, these diffe- rences are also noticeable. Owing to the high physical de- mands in care work, the values were significantly higher overall compared to other occupations. The necessity of frequently lifting and carrying heavy loads, for example, ari- ses from the need to reposition patients on a regular basis.
baua: Facts Working at the limit – Higher demands, more negative health outcomes
2Imprint | Publisher: Bundesanstalt für Arbeitsschutz und Arbeitsmedizin (BAuA), Friedrich-Henkel-Weg 1–25, 44149 Dortmund, Phone: +49 231 9071-2071, Email: info-zentrum@baua.bund.de, Internet: www.baua.de | Author: M. Lück, Editor: Dr. G. Meilicke, Design: R. Grahl | doi:10.21934/baua:facts20191024 | October 2019
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Further Information
1 Zeitdruck & Co – Arbeitsbedingungen mit ho- hem Stresspotenzial. BIBB/BAuA-Faktenblatt 01.
Dortmund: BAuA. Available at: www.baua.de/
dok/6505186
2 Arbeit in der Pflege – Arbeit am Limit? Arbeits- bedingungen in der Pflegebranche. BIBB/BAuA- Faktenblatt 10. Dortmund: BAuA. Available at:
www.baua.de/dok/6505548
3 I. Rothe, L. Adolph, B. Beermann, M. Schütte, A. Windel, A. Grewer, U. Lenhardt, J. Michel, B. Thomson, M. Formazin, 2017: Mental Health in the Working World - Determining the current state of scientific evidence. 1. edition.
Dortmund: BAuA. Available at: www.baua.de/
dok/8732366
4 U. Rösler, K. Schmidt, M. Merda und M. Melzer, 2018: Digitalisierung in der Pflege. Wie intel- ligente Technologien die Arbeit professionell Pflegender verändern. Berlin: Initiative Neue Qualität der Arbeit. Available at: www.inqa.de/
DE/Angebote/Publikationen/pflege-4.0.html
65 95
53 87
57 80
39 63
40 82
19 61
100 80 60 40 20 0 20 40 60 80 100
All professions Working while
standing
Lifting and carrying heavy loads
Work at the limits
of capacity: frequently
Doing manual work that requires great dexterity, fast sequences of movements or greater strength
Working in forced postures
Nursing professions
28 49
14 30
sometimes, rarely, never
Fig. 2 Physical work demands of employees subject to social insurance requirements who frequently or sometimes, ra- rely, or never reach the limit of their capacities (in %)
Health
Those who frequently work at the limits of their capacity feel less healthy. Only 20 % of employees who often work at their limits report their general state of health as “very good” or “excellent”, compared to 34 % of employees who sometimes, rarely, or never reach their limits at work.
Likewise, employees who frequently work at the limits of their capacities more often claim to be affected by the afore- mentioned mental and physical demands. In addition, psy- chosomatic complaints and musculoskeletal complaints are more common (Fig. 3). Whereas 67 % of all employees who often work at the limits of their capacities report three and more psychosomatic complaints, only 34 % of emplo- yees who sometimes, rarely, or never reach their limits re- port three and more psychosomatic complaints.
17
33 12
35
0 frequently
Psychosomatic complaints
of employees who are subject to social insurance requirements
Musculoskeletal complaints
of employees who are subject to social insurance requirements
frequently sometimes, rarely, never
sometimes, rarely, never
20 40 60 80 100
21
31 31
37 67
52 34
30 Work at the
limits of capacity:
no complaints 1–2 complaints 3 and more complaints
Fig. 3 Health complaints of employees subject to social insu- rance requirements who frequently or sometimes, rarely, or never reach the limit of their capacities (in %)
Three or more musculoskeletal complaints were reported by 52 % of all employees who often work at the limit of their capacities, compared to 30 % of employees who so- metimes, rarely, or never reach that limit at work. Psycho- somatic complaints, therefore, are somewhat more preva- lent than musculoskeletal complaints. Psychosomatic and musculoskeletal complaints are more common among care workers, who often work at their capacity limits, than among all other workers.
Conclusion
Frequently working at the limits of capacity is perceived as a burden by employees and accompanied by health problems. At the same time, employees often face other stressful mental and physical demands. Employers should take appropriate measures, such as hiring more staff, set- ting realistic goals with employees, and offering further training. New technologies should also be reviewed to see whether they can facilitate employees’ day-to-day work4. Especially in occupations with particularly high mental and physical demands, such as nursing, high-quality training programmes must be designed.
