31 October 2022
Chris Austin from HSE, Great Britain's health and safety
regulator, talks about the challenges, considerations and solutions
in relation to workplace stress.
Chris Austin, Head of Training and Events from HSE
The challenge facing employers in relation to stress and mental
health remains a stark one. In 2020/21, stress, anxiety and
depression was the number one cause of work related
illness, accounting for more half of all ill-health
cases, with some 822,000 workers being affected . It is estimated
that poor mental health costs UK employers up to £56 billion per
year .
In the workplace, the risks presented by stress are often not
treated in the same way as physical risks. In most cases this is
because employers are simply not aware of their legal duties, how
to recognise and respond to the signs of stress, or the ways in
which they can proactively support their workers' mental
wellbeing.
Whose responsibility is workplace stress?
A question often asked is 'who should have responsibility for
stress?'… does it sit with HR, health and safety, occupational
health or line managers? In reality, because of the wide reaching
impact on business that managing stress can have, it needs to be
considered right across organisations, and the question of
oversight can only be answered by leaders in relation to their own
businesses.
In terms of legal responsibility, the Health and Safety at Work
Act 1974 places a duty on employers to ensure, as far as is
reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare of all
employees. The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations
1999 require a suitable and sufficient assessment of workplace
risks to be carried out, and for employers to make proportionate
arrangements for the effective planning, organisation, control,
monitoring and review of the preventive and protective measures in
relation to these risks. As the leading cause of workplace
ill-health, having a robust and meaningful stress risk assessment
should be a key part of this management activity.
What causes stress in the workplace?
HSE identifies six main areas that can lead to work-related
stress if they are not managed properly. These are…
- Demands - workers are not able to
cope with the demands of their jobs;
- Control - they are unable to control
the way they do their work;
- Support - they don't feel that they
receive enough information, guidance and pastoral care;
- Relationships - they are having
trouble with relationships at work, or are being bullied;
- Role - they don't fully understand
their role and responsibilities; and
- Change - they are not engaged when a
business is undergoing change.
Stress affects everyone differently. Factors like skills and
experience, age or disability may also affect how an individual
responds to work pressures.
But sitting back and waiting for stress to negatively impact
your business is not a fait accompli, by talking to workers and
teams and having an understanding of stress, employers can
proactively prevent, manage, reduce stress in workplaces.
Resources, tools and support to help managers
The HSE Management Standards are a set of
conditions that if implemented, help organisations by:
- Demonstrating good practice through a step-by-step risk
assessment approach which considers the main risk factors, helping
employers focus on the underlying causes and their prevention, and
providing a yardstick by which organisations can gauge their
performance in tackling the key causes of stress;
- Allowing assessment of the current situation using pre-existing
data, surveys and other techniques; and
- Promoting active discussions and partnership working with
employees and their representatives, to help decide on practical
improvements that can be made.
On a practical level, there are a number of resources available.
HSE's Working Minds campaign provides a suite of
these to help businesses recognise the signs of work-related stress
and make tackling issues routine using the '5 Rs', five simple
steps to Reach out, Recognise, Respond, Reflect, and make it
Routine. It also includes the HSE talking
toolkits, which are designed to help managers talk with workers
as part of their overall approach to preventing and managing
work-related stress.
The Stress
Indicator Tool is an online survey designed to gather data
anonymously from employees, which can be used in the risk
assessment element of HSE's Management Standards approach. It has
both free and paid versions depending on the size of
organisations.
HSE also offers training to managers and workplaces in how to
respond to the challenges presented by workplace stress. A
qualification recently developed jointly with health and safety
examinations body NEBOSH, the
NEBOSH HSE Certificate in Managing Workplace Stress is aimed at
anyone responsible for (or with an interest in) employee wellbeing,
including HR, health and safety and occupational health
practitioners, line managers and supervisors. Similarly, its Developing Manager
Capability course is specifically designed for those with
responsibility for individual case management and/or charged with
conducting risk assessments for stress.
Visit HSE at the CIPD Annual Conference and Exhibition to find
out more
On 9-10 November, representatives from HSE will be attending CIPD's Annual Conference and Exhibition in
Manchester to talk to HR colleagues about the scale of the
challenge posed by workplace stress, and how they can be managed
within organisations.
There will also be an exhibition stand where delegates can speak
directly to HSE psychologists, policy experts and members of the
Customer Solutions Group about employer responsibilities, the
management standards and the support available to help ensure
compliance and impact.
About the author
Chris Austin is the Head of Training and Events at the Health
and Safety Executive (HSE), Great Britain's regulator for workplace
health and safety. Working alongside HSE's science, regulatory and
policy experts, Chris and his team develop engaging and relevant
solutions that help employers from all sectors to manage their
risks, and embed a positive health and safety culture.
Earlier this year, HSE launched its new 10 year strategy, Protecting People and Places. One of the key
priorities for the regulator is the reduction of work related
ill-health, with a specific focus on mental health and stress. HSE
has committed to using its collective resource to focus on this
problem, delivering interventions that have a positive impact.
To find out more about the strategy, visit the HSE website. For information training, events,
products and support available, visit the HSE solutions
portal, or connect with
Chris on Linkedin.
*HSE
(2021) Work-related stress, anxiety or depression statistics in
Great Britain
**
Deloitte (2022) Mental health and employers report