What do you think?

If the government required all large employers to provide employees with at least 2 months of paid vacation each year, would that help reduce stress in your life?

If you answered yes to the question above, join us in taking real action against workplace stress. 

Sign this petition to take back our time and our health! 

The What: 

We are petitioning the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OHSA) to implement anti-stress standard regulations that all large employers must follow to reduce stress in the workplace. While OSHA regulates and enforces workplace safety, health, and risk mitigation, they’ve never implemented any rules regarding minimal mental health standards or stress levels in the workplace. 

NIOSH, the research arm of OSHA, has already developed the Total Worker Health, which identifies wages, work hours, workload, interactions with coworkers and supervisors, and access to paid leave as directly related to the health of workers. OSHA must implement NIOSH’s Total Worker Health to their list of standards, and take into account the suggested standards highlighted in this petition. 

In addition to NIOSH’s recommendations, we are also recommending that the following standards be implemented: 

• Mandating all employers provide all full time employees with at least 2 months of paid vacation each year
• Mandating that all full time employees receive overtime anytime they work more than 4 days per week. 
• Mandating that all employers, on an annual basis, publicly state how they prioritize the mental health of employees over profit and what they are doing to reduce stress in the workplace. 

Finally, we want to hear from you! After signing this petition, please visit out reddit forum and comment your suggestions on how to reduce stress in the workplace. The top 10 suggestions will be included in our petition submission to OSHA.

The Facts:

• Americans spend 1/3 of their entire lives working. (Gettysburg College)
• There are 120,000 workplace stress related deaths each year. This is more than the number of deaths from diabetes, Alzheimer’s or influenza. (SHRM-SIOP)
• $73,817 = Employer cost of one individual dealing with mental stress per year.
• $124,777 = Employer cost of one individual dealing with a mental disorder per year (OSHA safety pays estimator).
• $190 billion = National health care cost of workplace stress (SHRM-SIOP)

The Why

• OHSA has regulated workplace safety since 1971 but does not recognize anti-stress measures as a component of a safe working environment. However, OSHA’s research arm NIOSH stipulates that there are important work-related risk factors outside of the standard exposures (chemicals, small work spaces, etc.) that include sleep disorders, cardiovascular disease, depression, and obesity.
• The culture of prioritizing work in America will never go away but our work culture can, and must, become healthier for the sake of individuals and society at large. If OSHA does not implement the recommendations outlined in this petition as a part of their regulatory practices, the below statistics will continue to worsen:
  • Nearly 50 million American adults experienced a mental illness in 2019.
  • Suicidal ideation continues to increase among adults in the US and is up by 664,000 people from 2018 to 2019 (prior to the pandemic)
  • 2.5 million youth continue to live with major depression.

The How

• OSHA clearly states that one way to add a new requirement to its list of regulated and enforced standards is in response to petitions from other parties, including NIOSH; state and local governments; any nationally-recognized standards-producing organization; employer or labor representatives; or any other interested person.
• We represent the interested bodies of persons who are mandating that our work environments benefit our well-being rather than continue to kill us. By signing this petition, you can continue to strengthen this body and apply the pressure for a better future of our workplaces!

Join us today and find us at www.notdoingit.org!