Stress at Work
The TUC’s 2008 survey of H&S reps found, once again, that overwork or stress is the most frequently identified workplace hazard, with no signs of improvement in most workplaces.
We provide key information and links:
- what is stress?
- why is it such a big issue?
- how do we tackle work-related stress?
- what are the stress management standards?
- implementing the stress management standards approach
- individual concerns
- stress training for Prospect reps
What is stress?
The HSE defines it as “the adverse reaction people have to excessive pressure or other types of demand placed on them.” People experience stress when they perceive an imbalance between the demands made of them and the resources they have available to cope with those demands.
There is a clear distinction between pressure, which can create a ‘buzz’ and be a motivator, and stress, which becomes a risk to safety and health when it is protracted. This is because it is associated with mental and physcial ill-health including depression, anxiety and heart disease. Stress can also lead to people making mistakes (human error), with an increased likelihood of accidents.
Why is stress such a big issue?
Stress can affect anyone and undermines the health and safety of individuals, the health of organisations and the health of the national economy. More and more people are affected by work-related stress because of:- changes in work design, organisation and management
- precarious contracts
- job insecurity
- increases in the intensity and pace of work
- high emotional demands being made of workers
- violence and psychological harassment
- poor work-life balance.
Besides the moral and legal reasons for tackling stress, there is an obvious business case for tackling stress in terms of the cost to UK plc of working days lost and health care provision.
How do we tackle work-related stress?
Tackling work-related stress isn't easy. However, the law and standards are forever developing, providing employers and Unions with more and more information on what workers may expect. Various branches of the law impose obligations on employers to reduce the likelihood of their employees suffering a stress-related illness; and requires employers to treat employees affected by stress in specific ways. The main, preventive law is the criminal law enforced by HSE and Local Authority inspectors.
The Health and Safety at Work Act requires employers to take reasonably practicable steps to ensure employees do not suffer stress-related illnesses as a result of their work. The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations require employers to assess the risks to employees’ psychiatric health caused by work-related stress. Where the assessment highlights risks, they must take reasonable steps to limit these and ongoing monitoring. The Working Time Regulations may also apply. Long working hours and night working pose an increased risk to health and safety. The Regulations impose limits and require employees to be offered free health assessments before they are assigned to night work.
HSE has produced stress management standards and guidelines on work-related stress for employers, employees and their representatives.
Prospect supports this well-researched and reputable approach, the focus of which is tackling stress for groups of workers. You can play your part by working with your employer, identifying problems at source and agreeing realistic and workable ways to tackle these.
What are the stress management standards?
The Standards look at the six key areas of work that, if properly managed, can help to reduce work-related stress. They provide simple statements about good management practice in each area:
- Demands – eg workload, work patterns and the work environment
- Control – how much say you have in the way you do your work
- Support – the encouragement and resources provided by your employer, line management and colleagues
- Relationships – eg promoting positive working to avoid conflict and dealing with unacceptable behaviour
- Role – being clear about your role and avoiding conflicting roles
- Change – how organisational change is managed and communicated in the organisation.
HSE does not expect every employer to meet all the standards at their first attempt. The standards are goals that employers should be working towards through an ongoing process of risk assessment, worker involvement and continuous improvement.
Implementing the stress management standards approach
Successful implementation requires:
- leadership, commitment and involvement - senior management commitment and worker involvement are necessary throughout the process for staff to be willing to take part. Ideally, the process should be championed by a senior manager.
- effective communications - a carefully considered communications plan is required, setting out recognition of the problem and a commitment to making improvements. Two-way communications is essential, so it is vital H&S reps are engaged throughout.
- risk assessment - and patience. This is not something that can be done overnight. It's more about project management, requiring a project champion, plan and steering group.
- intelligence - gathering information and data, such as staff turnover, sickness absenteeism, performance appraisals, exit interviews and staff surveys (the list is not exhaustive).
Further guidance can be found in "Working together to reduce stress at work: a guide for employees" and at HSE's stress web pages. These provide extensive information with case studies and links to free leaflets. Your employer should purchase the priced publications and make them available to Prospect H&S reps.
Individual concerns
It is the employee’s duty to raise concerns relating to their mental health with the employer to ‘give notice’ that they are in difficulty. If the employee neglects to do this, they are unlikely to succeed in any subsequent personal injury claim.
The employee doesn’t have to be forceful in their complaints because at the time they may be ill. Reps can therefore help, for instance by making representations, confirming in writing/email to provide an evidence trail. The point is it is essential that there is sufficient indication of impending harm to health arising from stress at work which is plain for any reasonable employer to realise in order to trigger a duty on the employer to do something about it.
Employers then have a duty to take reasonable steps to try to resolve a known stressor an employee is experiencing, irrespective of whether the source of stress is at work or home. Reps can assist.
Help
- Guidance for individuals experiencing stress and for their managers is a good starting point and provides brief lifestyle advice.
- Reps can help by providing advice and aiding problem-solving. However, reps are not counsellors and have limited resources. It is for the employer to provide appropriate staff support.
- Prospect staff also provide help and support.
Personal Injury
It is important to appreciate that most work is pressurised from time to time, to some degree. Unless a claim is based on the Harassment Act, for a claim to stand a chance of success the following criteria must be met:
- Condition - there must be a recognised psychiatric injury, typically depression or a nervous breakdown.
- Causation – the stress is caused by employment factors not problems at home such as divorce or bereavement.
- Foreseeability - this is key: an employer is entitled to assume that an employee can cope with the normal pressures of a job unless the employer knows something specific about the job or the individual concerned that should make it consider the risk of psychiatric injury. The employer is not obliged to make intrusive enquiries and is entitled to take what it is told by the employee at face value. However the employer is expected to keep abreast of the developing knowledge on stress and not be too slow to apply it.
- Negligence – the injury is the employer’s fault. For instance doubling the workload without additional support/resources could constitute a failure in duty of care.
Members and reps should note that personal injury claims for stress are extremely difficult to prove. If however you do wish to pursue a claim, the starting point is completing an occupational stress form via the personal injury scheme. Each case is assessed on its individual merits.
Stress training for Prospect reps
Prospect has been piloting a 'tackling work-related stress' training course for our reps, applying the stress management standards approach. The course is now being evaluated with a view to a targeted roll-out starting mid 2009.
If work-related stress is a priority for your branch, the branch chair or secretary should notify their FTO with details of an experienced rep/H&S rep the branch wants trained. They will then be asked to cascade the training within the branch, so selecting the right rep is key.