Equipping business to prevent stress

HSC press release: C021:04 - 25 May 2004

Bill Callaghan, Chair of the Health and Safety Commission (HSC), today launched an innovative three month consultation campaign asking managers and employers for their views on proposals to reduce work-related stress. A video explanation of the proposals is available via HSE's website and feedback can be delivered online.

The proposals are based around a set of Management Standards that will enable employers to gauge stress levels, identify causes and work with employees to resolve any difficulties. The Standards are clear and practical statements of good management practice and are supported by a body of research and by an ongoing dialogue with a range of businesses, professional bodies and unions.

The Management Standards are not new regulations: they are a non-legislative yardstick to help organisations meet their existing duty of care and their duty to assess the risks to work-related stress. The Standards highlight the components of good organisation, job design and management that keep stress levels in check and enhance productivity.

Work-related stress has overtaken musculoskeletal disorders as the biggest cause of working days lost through injury or ill-health. It accounts for over 13 million days lost in UK industry a year, and costs society as a whole about £3.7 billion a year. In 2001/2, over half a million individuals in Britain experienced stress at levels that made them ill, as reported by the most recent Labour Force Survey.

Bill Callaghan, said:

"The HSC has recognised the need for action and designated stress as one of our priorities. We're not about eliminating all stress or pressure in the workplace. Rather we want to help employers recognise and manage the risks sensibly. The good news is that the core of any solution lies in good management, and in employers working together with staff and their representatives to develop solutions that work in practice."

Head of HSE's Better Working Environment Division, Elizabeth Gyngell said:

"Work-related stress is not the reasonable pressure which is part and parcel of all work and which helps to keep us motivated. It is the kind of excessive pressure that undermines performance, is costly to employers and can make people ill.

We are working hard to help tackle issue through good job design and people management. HSE cannot do this alone. We need employers, employees, and their representatives to visit our website and participate in this consultation.

Notes to editors

1. The revised draft Management Standards are publicly available from 25 May, when they are put forward for consultation as a non-leglislative yardstick. Bill Callaghan launches the consultation campaign at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) conference on 25 May. From this date the Standards, an introductory video and supporting materials will be available on HSE's website http://www.hse.gov.uk/stress
2. The material will be distributed to managers and employers on CDRom carried free with editions of selected journals and copies will be sent to the top 350 companies. This approach will encourage a large number of responses and enable collection and anaysis through an online consultation tool. The consultation runs until 27 August 2004.
3. The consultation is innovative because it avoids the usual format of a consultation document distributed to traditional stakeholders. Employers already have a duty to ensure, as far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare of their employees at work (Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974) and to assess for health and safety risks (Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999). These duties cover work-related stress.
4. The first draft Management Standards were developed and piloted in April 2002. The Standards consist of six main factors that contribute to work-related stress: demands, control, support, relationships, role, change.

Press enquiries

All enquiries from journalists should be directed to the HSE Press Office