302 Stress among central industrial security force personnel -a comprehensive assessment and action plan

Introduction Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) protects critical installations in the country. Though this para-military force were given requisite training to handle stressful jobs but In drawing upon recent incidents and some of the empirical studies in CISF, a wide range of issues including factors intrinsic to the job, organisation culture, and managerial style, style of work in organisation and home/work interface create unmanageable stress and impact on personnel psychological health and overall well-being. In CISF, there are well-defined practices and procedures that govern the way an employee should conduct but it depends on how effectively these policies and practices are implemented in the organisation. Methods Investigator used Stress Audit Scale adapted from Udaya Kumar Reddy (2005) to assess the perceived distress, personality traits, and all connected stressful demands was used. The present study was undertaken on a total of 326 CISF Personnel in three major work location of Goa (i.e. Airport, Shipyard and Port Trust). Sub officers (i.e. Inspectors, Sub-inspectors, Asst. Sub Inspectors) and Constables participated in the study. Stress awareness session was delivered before administering the questionnaire. Focused group discussions conducted for capturing qualitative data. Result Most of the CISF Personnel were under high overall distress across the cadre in all three units. Personality traits are significantly correlated with distress. Subjects’ Distress was significantly correlated to their Role Stress variables and Psychosocial Safety Climate. Some specific organisational variables emerged has the significant impact on perceived distress. Discussion CISF Personnel requires a comprehensive Stress Assessment that helps to focus on required behavioural competencies to improve upon and also will enable effective implementation and continual improvement of the policies and practices. It necessitates stress safety net which will in turn provide necessary stress management programmes, counselling services and staff welfare planning to promote employee work-life balance and organisational excellence.