Retail cracks list of 10 most stressful industries in the US

A new index measuring stress in the workplace found that general merchandise stores are right up there with nursing, warehousing, and waste management.

Using data sourced from the CDC’s National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), the index’s scoring methodology is based on 26 variables that typically impact stress levels, from satisfaction with health care to hours of sleep per night.

• Trē House, an online shop for marijuana and other recreational drugs, which is obviously in the business of helping people chill out, assembled the data.

“Some of these industries might look easy on the surface but the inner workings and compensation for employees could lead to a much more stressful environment,” Jameson Rodgers, a spokesperson for Trē House, said in a statement.

While warehousing and nursing, which took the number one and two spots, respectively, might seem like more obvious inclusions, retailers have also had their share of workplace safety issues in recent months.

• The Labor Department, for example, designated Dollar General as a “severe violator” of worker safety rules, and Dollar Tree paid $1.35 million in fines as part of a settlement over workplace safety complaints.
• The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) earlier this year also launched an initiative to investigate workplace hazards at “high injury rate retail establishments,” in addition to warehouses and distribution centers.