Employee
Wellbeing – focus on stress prevention
We all know prevention is better than cure but
sometimes it is difficult to know what prevention measures to put in place until
it is too late. By taking a
proactive approach to stress in the workplace you can limit your chance of
litigation and also help reduce the costs
associated with stress related sickness absence.
associated with stress related sickness absence.
What is stress?
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) defines stress as “the adverse reaction people have to excessive pressures or other types of demand placed on them”. This makes an important distinction between pressure, which can be a positive motivating force if managed correctly, and stress that can be detrimental to health.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) defines stress as “the adverse reaction people have to excessive pressures or other types of demand placed on them”. This makes an important distinction between pressure, which can be a positive motivating force if managed correctly, and stress that can be detrimental to health.
Cost
of stress to organisations
It is reported that the average cost of
stress per employee per year is £19001 and costs UK organisations £12 billion per
year2. After musculo-skeletal problems, psychological problems are
the primary cause of sickness absence3 and at any one time: 1:6 (1:5 including alcohol & drug dependence)
UK workers will suffer depression, anxiety or problems related to stress. The average employee absence for those
suffering from work related stress
= 22.6 days per year for anxiety and 30 days for depression4. NICE estimates that effective
management of mental health in an organisation with 100 employees could save
£250,000 per year.
The
law relating to stress
There
is no specific law on stress. Instead it is mainly covered by the Health &
Safety at Work Act (1974) and the Management of Health & Safety at Work
Regulations (1999), although other acts such as Disability Discrimination Act
1995 & Amendments, Working Time Regulations 1998 & Amendments and Civil
Law also come into play (for further details contact us)
Under
the Health & Safety At Work Act (1974) both employers and employees have a
responsibility for the health, safety and welfare of themselves and others. It
is important that employees inform the employer if they are suffering from
stress as a result of the workplace.
Management
Standards
The
HSE has developed a set of management standards to support organisations when
addressing workplace stress.
These
standards focus on 6 broad categories of risk factors that if
managed properly will help your organisation comply with legislation and provide
a positive working environment for your employees.
The
Risk factor categories
• DEMANDS
(workload & environment)
•
CONTROL (choice over how work is done)
•
SUPPORT (manager & peer, training,
individual differences)
•
RELATIONSHIPS (good/bad – e.g. bullying)
• ROLE
(overload/ambiguity/conflict)
• CHANGE
(need for as well as affect of ‐
how communicated/managed)
The
standards
The HSE management standards are a set
of goals for organisations to work towards based on each of the stress risk
factor categories. They are listed as Standards and Goals - below is the standard for demands:
The standard is that:
•Employees indicate
that they are able to cope with the demands of their jobs; and
•Systems are in place
locally to respond to any individual concerns.
Goals to be achieved
are:
•The
organisation provides employees with adequate and achievable demands in
relation to the agreed hours of work;
•People’s
skills and abilities are matched to the job demands;
•Jobs
are designed to be within the capabilities of employees; and
•Employees’
concerns about their work environment are addressed.
Where
next?
Full
details on each of the 6 standards and the specific responsibilities managers
have can be found on HSE website. Organisations should be aware
that if they have 5 or more employees it is a legal requirement to have a stress policy in place (this can be
built into your health and safety policy). For training on implementing the management standards please
visit our website.
To learn more about the benefits of employee health and wellbeing please
visit our website: www.mwwellbeing.co.uk or call us on 01562 634926
1 CIPD 2009, 2 HSE 2009, 3 CIPD 2009, 4 Sainsbury's
Centre for Mental Health, 2007, 5 NICE 2009.