The Role of Government in Managing Workers’ Stress: The Nigerian Experience

There is copious literature on stress, stress management, sources or causes of stress, cost of stress, and the consequence of stress as it relates to an individual, community, and the workplace today. What started as a scientific finding from Hans Seyle’s experiments in the 1930’s, followed by Richard Lazarus’ and Walter Cannon’s experiments, has taken on global dimensions and attracted huge resources in addressing this phenomenon. As the global society becomes enmeshed in a fast-paced and competitive interlock, leading to deadlines and increased workloads, work-related illnesses and diseases have therefore increased with their attendant costs of loss of workdays and their negative impact on the economy. This paper examines the role the Nigerian government is playing as an institution and an employer of labour in managing occupational stress and makes recommendations on how government can firm up present efforts by engaging contemporary measures managing workplace stress in the country today