DOL suggests that there are four ‘categories of work’. These categories aren’t necessarily fixed as they will overlap with each other, circumstances change and work that one person finds stimulating will be work that another person finds stressful (see Category Two). However, these broad categories may give you a useful starting point for thinking about whether you can eliminate, isolate, or minimise the stressors associated with work, and then how you may go about doing so.

Category One – Healthy Work is work that is enjoyable, interesting, rewarding and stimulating, with many elements of healthy work shown in Table 1.2 such as task variety and personal control over how the tasks are performed. It is well-organised, with realistic deadlines and a balance of effort and rest, and the worker receives good recognition and rewards.

• Ideally, an evaluation of this kind of job will reveal that the stressors that exist in it are challenges rather than a constant drain on resources, or that the healthy features of the work outweigh its unhealthy features. Any significant stressors that do show up can probably be eliminated through primary (work-focused), secondary (training and person focused) and tertiary (person-focused) prevention methods.

Category Two – Self-generated Stress. This is where the person creates their own stressors because of personal choices. A person in Category Two might be trying to hold multiple jobs, or agreeing to unreasonable demands on themselves (saying ‘yes’ instead of ‘no’, which may imply a degree of management responsibility), pursuing agendas that are not those of the organisation, refusing to ask for help when they should or refusing reasonable change.

• An evaluation of a Category Two job will reveal that the employee is creating stressors. The stress prevention programme will aim to eliminate the stressors through secondary (person-job fit) and tertiary (person-focused) prevention methods, and to alert supervisors not to take advantage of the person. The identification, assessment and control of problems in Category Two work may require the consideration of all the factors in the person’s life to find out if the person is choosing to behave that way or is constrained to behave that way by various pressures (see Table 7.4).

Category Three – Badly Organised Work. This is work that is free from the intrinsic stressors that characterise Category Four work, is normally enjoyable and satisfying, but is organised so that it has become difficult for a number of people doing the work to cope with. Jobs in this category typically can be done safely and enjoyably but are often being worked too many hours in each week or needlessly contain uncontrolled stressors (see Table 1.1).

• An evaluation of a Category Three job will reveal stressors in the job that will often relate to time and other organisational pressures. The stress prevention programme will aim to eliminate, isolate and minimise these stressors through a mix of primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention methods. Employers should ensure that their work organisation and structure do not match the factors identified in Table 1.1.

Category Four – Intrinsically Stressful Work. This kind of work could involve activities that are emotionally challenging, draining or even repugnant, require intense, prolonged concentration, or have very high consequences of error. Some of these were identified in section 3.1 and include policing, health care, supervision of disturbed people, and air traffic control.

• An evaluation of a Category Four job will reveal a high number of intrinsic stressors that may, at times, be intense and unmanageable. The stress prevention programme will be unable to eliminate or isolate these stressors (except perhaps in isolated or specific ways), and will aim to minimise them through all three prevention methods.