Accounting for Headaches

June 5, 2001 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - A job in accounting comes with more headaches in the work week than any other profession, according to a survey.

The survey, titled Exedrin@Work Headache-by-profession Index, ranked the following professions in terms of the number of headaches experienced by workers in that profession, results were as follows:

  • slightly less than half the accountants polled reported suffering weekday headaches,
  • librarians came in second with 43%,
  • followed by 42% of bus and truck drivers, and
  • construction workers with 38% reporting headaches.

Furthermore, 77% of the workers polled say that 56% of their headaches strike during working hours, and 21% say that all their headaches happen at work.

Occupational Hazards

The survey also highlighted some industry-specific triggers:

  • half the headaches experienced by the accountants polled are caused by the sloppy bookkeeping of disorganized clients;
  • borrowers at libraries who are incapable of using the research resources are the source of 56% of the headaches experienced by librarians;
  • truck and bus drivers say that bumper to bumper traffic caused 38% of their headaches, while bad weather is responsible for a further 31%; and
  • nearly half of all the law enforcement officers polled said they’d have fewer headaches on the job if citizens would stop trying to elicit sympathy.

While 98% of workers polled consider themselves either solid performers or over-achievers, 47% said their work quality has suffered because of headache pain, and even though 62% of headaches occur during work activities, only about 40% of those polled take medication at the onset of a headache.


 

«