Health & Safety at Work - Stressed Out!
Stress is an adverse reaction that people have to excessive pressure or other demands placed on them. It may be caused by work, outside work or both.
An estimated half a million UK workers report that they believe they have been made ill by work related stress - that's as many as one in five.
Stress is not an illness but it can lead to increased problems with ill health if prolonged or particularly intense.
Physical effects include:
- heart disease
- back pain
- gastrointestinal disturbances.
Mental effects include:
- anxiety
- depression.
Employers have a duty to make sure that employees are not made ill by their work. Where stress caused or made worse by work could lead to ill health, employers must assess the risk.
A risk assessment for stress involves:
- looking for pressures at work that could cause high and long lasting levels of stress
- deciding who may be harmed by these
- deciding whether you are doing enough to prevent that harm.
If necessary, you must take reasonable steps to deal with these pressures.
Act now ... prevention is easier than cure!
The Health and Safety Executive have produced some related literature:
- A guide entitled "Tackling work related stress: a managers guide to improving and maintaining employee health and well being" (ISBN 0717 6 20506) which is available at a modest price.
- For firms with less than 50 employees a free booklet entitled "Work - related stress a short guide".
Both the above are available either online from the |Health and Safety Executive or from HSE Books, PO Box 1999, Sunbury, Suffolk CO10 2WA.
