Work related stress

Well-designed, organised and managed work helps to maintain and promote individual health and well-being. But where there has been insufficient attention to job design, work organisation and management the benefits and assets associated with ‘good work’ could be lost. One common result is Work related stress.

By the term work related stress we mean the process that arises where work demands of various types and combinations exceed the person’s capacity and capability to cope. Think of this as ‘bad work’. It is a significant cause of illness and disease and is known to be linked with high levels of sickness absence, staff turnover and other indicators of organisational underperformance - including human error.

For some the way to deal with work related stress is to diagnose, treat and rehabilitate people who experience it. For others, it is economically and morally preferable to assess and repair the failed work system or organisation. This action reduces the risk of future failure and the likelihood of future work-related ill-health. This approach focuses attention on the antecedents of work related stress in the design and management of work – but recognises that interventions at the individual level have a part to play.

Recent statistics confirm that work related stress is widespread in the UK working population and is not confined to particular sectors or high risk jobs or industries. That is why a population-wide approach is necessary to tackle it.

This website represents our current understanding and best practice based on recent work with organisations from the public and private sector. It is not meant to replace our existing guidance Managing the causes of work related stress (HS (G) 218) [PDF, 964KB]

The core of the HSE approach for dealing with work related stress is the Management Standards approach. The Management Standards represent a set of conditions that, if present, reflect a high level of health, well-being and organisational performance. This approach, details of which can be found elsewhere on this website, is designed to help those people who have key roles in promoting organisational and individual health and well-being and preventing illness and diseases resulting from stress.

Here we:

• Explain what stress is, its causes and the signs and symptoms to watch for;
• Detail the moral and financial reasons for taking action; and
• Give advice on what you should be doing

• Further information about how individuals have dealt with stress

Find out more

• Working for Health
• Work Foundation