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Stress the importance

From the Bolton Evening News, first published Tuesday 30th Mar 2004.

UP TO five million Britons complain of work-related stress each year -- but most companies are still not following HSE guidelines.

More than three-quarters -- 79 per cent -- of health and safety professionals polled by business information and advisors Croner have taken no action to implement the HSE's "Stress Management Standards" introduced last year.

And more than half -- 55 per cent -- of survey respondents are not even aware of the standards, while 24 per cent have taken no action to put them into practice. The Management Standards are due to be enforced later this year, when all employers will be expected to conform to them.

The HSE identifies six factors believed to contribute to workplace stress: demands of the job; control over how to work; lack of support from colleagues and management; poor working relationships; lack of clarity of role and organisational change. Work-related stress accounts for 90 million working days lost per year, costing businesses around £3.7 billion.

Katherine Hunter, health and safety expert from Croner, said: "Misconceptions about stress need to be challenged to make people aware that it is not a weakness on behalf of the employee, but a serious occupational health condition. Employers must take responsibility for stress caused by work and the working environment and adopt the attitude of prevention rather than cure. The HSE's Management Standards help this process by setting realistic targets and explaining how to achieve them."

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