HSE Press Release E090:02 - 20 May 2002

---

HSE launches report on interventions to control stress at work in hospitals

---

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) today launched its report into the control of stress within UK health services.

The research, jointly funded by UNISON and the Royal College of Nursing, focuses on ways to detect and manage stress issues in the health environment, was carried out following the publication of a 1993 report "Health at Work in the NHS", which identified that stress-related illness accounted for 30-40% of all sickness absence in the NHS, with work-related stress thought to be a significant factor in many cases. Additionally, the "Self-reported Work-Related Illness Survey for 1995" showed nursing had one of the highest reported rates of stress, depression or anxiety - 2.2% compared to national average of 0.7%.

The current research report describes:

• A methodology for assessing psychosocial risks & organisational hazards;
• How to prioritise findings to translate into interventions/action plans;
• How to implement and evaluate interventions; and
• Case studies to illustrate the model.

The study, undertaken by Professor Tom Cox, CBE, Institute of Work, Health and Organisations, University of Nottingham, describes a methodology that was applied in three NHS Trusts, involving five different worker groups. Over the coming months, HSE will be working with the trusts involved in the study to review whether the interventions have continued to make an impact on stress levels. HSE will also consider whether its Health Services Advisory Committee should produce guidance based on the results of the study.

Work related stress is the second most commonly reported cause of occupational ill health (after musculoskeletal disorders), with an estimated 6.5m working days lost annually (all occupations) and at a cost to industry of £370m (95/6 prices).

Murray Devine, HSE's Priority Programme Manager for the Health Services said:

"The issue of work related stress in the health services is not trivial, nor is it the inevitable consequences of working life. This study has shown that using the principles of risk management, it is possible to identify likely stressors and take appropriate action. This work provides valuable insight into how good management can address problems, which if left unchecked, can lead to unnecessary levels of stress in employees. I urge all those responsible for managing health and safety in the health service to read and act on this report in order to start to reduce the levels of work related stress in their workforce".

Notes to editors

1. HSE defines work related stress as "the adverse reaction people have to excessive pressures or other types of demands placed on them". Work related stress is not an illness in itself, but if prolonged or particularly intense, it can lead to physical or mental ill health.

2. The strategy for tackling work related stress adopts the principles of "Securing Health Together: A long-term occupational health strategy for England, Scotland and Wales". This forms an integral part if "Revitalising Health and Safety", an initiative by the Health and Safety Commission launched on 7 June 2000, by HSC Chairman Bill Callaghan and Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott. This aims to achieve, by the year 2010, the following national targets: reduce the incidence of working days lost from work related injury and ill-health by 30 per cent; reduce the incidence of people suffering from work related ill-health by 20 per cent; and reduce the rate of fatal and major injury accidents by 10 per cent. There is an additional target of achieving half of each improvement by the year 2004. HSC has identified eight priority areas - major hazards and worst performing sectors of industry - where improvement is most needed to meet the targets. These are: construction agriculture; the health service; stress; musculoskeletal disorders; falls from heights; slips and trips; and work related transport. For more information, visit the Revitalising Health and Safety website at www.hse.gov.uk/revitalising

3. This new study is adding to HSE's knowledge of stressors in the health service and control strategies to overcome them. This study formed part of the Health Service Advisory Committees' (HSAC) 1994/04 work programme, which included a strategy to address occupational stress in the healthcare sector. Despite many trusts recognising the problem at individual level, no-one had attempted to address the organisational causes of occupational stress - this study addresses that issue. The strategy included possible publication of healthcare specific guidance, which will be considered later in the year after the re-constitution of HSAC.

Copies of Interventions to control stress at work in hospital staff, Contract Research Report 435/2002, ISBN 0 7176 2360 2, price £20.00 can be ordered online at http://www.hsebooks.com or are available from HSE Books, PO Box 1999, Sudbury, Suffolk, CO10 2WA, tel: 01787 881165 or fax: 01787 313995. HSE priced publications are also available from all good bookshops.

HSE's Contract Research Reports are available on the HSE website at www.hse.gov.uk/research/noframes/crr/index.htm

PUBLIC ENQUIRIES:

Call HSE's InfoLine, tel: 0845 345 0055
or write to: HSE Information Services, Caerphilly Park, Caerphilly CF83 3GG.

---

Published on the HSE web site on 20 May 2002

Back to Press Release Index Page