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Address stress or face a fine
Page 19
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• Employers who fail to take sufficient steps to deal with workplace stress could find they are on the receiving end of a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) improvement notice. This happened to West Dorset General Hospitals NHS Trust recently following a complaint by an employee in a move that has implications for businesses of all kinds, including haulage.
Failure to comply with such a notice could result in prosecution and a fine on conviction.
The fact that the HSE is taking workplace stress so seriously should not be a surprise. Some 64% of UK workers are suffering from it, according to research commissioned by the International Stress Management Association UK (ISMAUK).
Of those, almost two-thirds say it is reducing their job satisfaction, and more than a third say it is reducing their productivity. Almost a third say it Is damaging their relationship with everyone they work with.
According to ISMAUK the most common causes of stress include too much work, deadline pressures, aggressive management and/or poor communications, an unsupportive work environment, and problems with maintaining a work/life balance. Many employers don't know how to prevent stress, however, and are not oven sure whether their workers suffer from it.
In response, the HSE will publish Tackling work-related stress—a manager's guide to improving and maintaining employee health and well-being (17.95 from HSE Books) in October. It has devised draft management standards that should help companies determine whether or not stress is a major problem for their staff.
ISMAUK is organising National Stress Awareness Day on 5 November.
• Contact: HSE Books on 01787 881165; ISMAUK on 07000 780430.