A literature review investigating indoor environmental factors causing workplace stress

People spend 90% of their time indoors and are exposed to a myriad of indoor environmental conditions that affect their physiological and psychological well-being. In work environments, stress tends to be a major issue that affects workers psychological well-being and by extension their work performance. Factors causing workplace stress are numerous and varied, however, there is limited research exploring the plethora of workplace stressors and little empirical evidence with respect to stressors related to the indoor environment. This study conducted a literature review to identify key indoor environmental factors causing workplace stress, assess their specific impact and their interrelationships. The review involved searching existing electronic databases to locate research papers and studies exploring the issue. The review showed how adverse acoustics, thermal environment, lighting and indoor air quality were the main indoor environmental factors causing workplace stress with unintended effects on wellbeing and performance. It identified personal and external coping skills as the key determinants of the likely consequences of workplace stress and the key factors that enable occupants to mitigate it effectively. It also identified some workplace design strategies with the potential to lower workplace stress, boost employee morale, increase occupant comfort and improve work productivity.