Too much paperwork and work stress

gaiscioch

I don't know if any of you were listening to Morning Ireland this morning but there was a study on Garda stress and at the top of the reasons for job stress was overload from paperwork.

Among the main well-being issues confronting gardaí were:

Frustration at the amount of paperwork involved with the job;

Not possessing the right equipment to do the job properly;

Believing that senior officers and managers did not appreciate the challenges they faced;

Witnessing nepotism in appointments to jobs and roles within the force;

Working unsocial hours that impacted on family and friends;

Insufficient training in the technical skills required;

Too many work demands to be effective in their role.

Association president Ciarán O'Neill said the findings made stark reading and provided fresh evidence of the mental health issues being suffered by their members on the ground, not least post-traumatic stress disorder. Front-line gardaí 'suffering from post-traumatic stress'

It has me wondering is there a wider problem with paperwork unique to the public service, or is it a wider societal problem? Why does too much paperwork recur time and time again as a major cause of stress - and why is so much more paperwork needed in contrast to, say, 1990? (or was loads of paper filling as much a part of teaching then?)

khaldrogo

Because there is so much potential for litigation, h&s issues and personal injury claims these days compared to years ago

Wildly Boaring

gaiscioch wrote: »

I don't know if any of you were listening to Morning Ireland this morning but there was a study on Garda stress and at the top of the reasons for job stress was overload from paperwork.



It has me wondering is there a wider problem with paperwork unique to the public service, or is it a wider societal problem? Why does too much paperwork recur time and time again as a major cause of stress - and why is so much more paperwork needed in contrast to, say, 1990? (or was loads of paper filling as much a part of teaching then?)

Deffo not public service only.
Paperwork to run a building site has expanded so much in 20 years that management staff has been doubled at a minimum.
Had a site for one client with 6 different pieces of paper to dig a hole.

Temp possession
Client permit to dig
Contractor permit to dig
Excavation specific RAMS
Daily take time
GA

Not withstanding the certs for excavators, tickets for drivers, ticket for cable avoidance and calibration for cable avoidance

Edit: once hole dug have to fill out quality paperwork if it's permanent works, keep records for payment and get handover back to client after

RealJohn

Maybe paperwork is top of the list gaiscioch but I think all of those causes of Garda stress could be applied to teachers too, to a greater or lesser extent.