Job stress can be defined as the harmful physical and emotional responses that occur when the requirements of a job do not match the capabilities, resources, or needs of the worker. Job stress can lead to poor health and even injury. Primary themes in job stress research at NIOSH include:

• To better understand the influence of what are commonly-termed “work organization” or “psychosocial” factors on stress, illness, and injury
• To identify ways to redesign jobs to create safer and healthier workplaces

Examples of research topics at NIOSH within these two broad themes include:

• Characteristics of healthy work organizations -Work organization interventions to promote safe and healthy working conditions
• Surveillance of the changing nature of work
• Work organization interventions to reduce musculoskeletal disorders among office operators
• Work schedule designs to protect the health and well-being of workers
• The effects of new organizational policies and practices on worker health and safety
• Changing worker demographics (race/ethnicity, gender, and age) and worker safety and health
• Work organization, cardiovascular disease, and depression
• Psychological violence in the workplace
• Publishes educational documents on work, stress, and health