Occupational Stress Assessment Among Factory Workers in a Brewery in Anambra State

This research assesses the levels and sources of occupational stress among production workers in a brewery located in Anambra State, South East Nigeria. Occupational stress is increasingly recognised as a significant driver of reduced productivity, elevated absenteeism, and higher accident rates in manufacturing environments, yet its formal assessment remains uncommon in Nigerian industrial settings. This study employs the Health and Safety Executive Management Standards Indicator Tool to measure stress exposure across six key domains: demands, control, support, relationships, role, and change. A structured questionnaire was administered to eighty-seven production workers across day and night shifts, and the results were supplemented by absenteeism data extracted from the human resources department records over an eighteen-month period. Findings reveal that the demands and control domains attract the highest adverse scores, with night-shift workers reporting significantly higher stress levels than day-shift counterparts across all six domains. Absenteeism rates are found to be thirty-one percent higher in the packaging department compared to the brewing department, consistent with the higher physical and time-pressure demands of packaging work. Recommendations include rotating shift patterns to distribute workload more equitably, introducing supervisory coaching training, and establishing an employee assistance programme with access to professional counselling. Keywords: occupational stress, brewery, HSE Management Standards, shift work, Anambra State