Health & Safety News Brief Occupational Health & Safety Information Service
(OHSIS) November 2004

Work-related Stress

In this edition Carol Spiers, an internationally renowned occupational stress consultant, shares with us the new standards which now underpin the need for a common sense approach to stress management.

Over 13 million days a year are lost owing to work-related stress, making it the biggest occupational cause of working days lost through injury or ill-health. An average of 29 days are lost per case, costing society in the region of £3.7 billion a year. In 2001/2, over half a million individuals in Britain experienced work -related stress at levels that made them ill.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has recently launched a new approach to help larger organisations work with their employees in managing the risks associated with work -related

OHSIS Nov. 2004 - Table of Contents

Horizon Scanning - Future health and safety issues Work-related Stress A ‘common sense’ approach to stress management Safe recovery of petrol from end-of-life vehicles Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 ODPM Factsheets Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 Key Factsheet 1 Revision of Working Time Directive Regulation and Recognition Towards Good Performance in Health and Safety1 Safe transport in waste management and recycling facilities New Publications in OHSIS Document Alert

stress. Drawing on input from a range of businesses, professional bodies, unions, and other government agencies, HSE has developed an approach based on a continuous improvement model featuring a benchmarking tool that helps managers gauge stress levels, compare themselves with other organisations, and work with employees to identify solutions.

In conjunction with the toolkit, the management standards, which are not new regulations, are to help larger organisations meet their existing duty in their risk assessments of work-related stress.