What is needed is a carefully thought through communications plan setting out recognition of the problem, and a commitment to make improvements. Two-way communications is essential and absolutely key to the process. To help you do this, it is important that you record what you have done for each step of the process as you go along.

Securing management commitment

Many employers are already committed to managing stress at work. Most of these recognise that tackling stress brings benefits for the organisation. If you need to get your senior managers on board, but are not sure how to do this, then presenting a simple business case on the benefits of tackling stress is a good way to start. You can use some or all of the examples suggested below. You can also make an ethical case for tackling stress, and of course, you should also point out that all employers are subject to a general duty of care for their staff.

The business case: Tackling stress brings business benefits

Research has shown work-related stress to have adverse effects for organisations in terms of:

• Employee commitment to work
• Staff performance and productivity
• Staff turnover and intention to leave
• Attendance levels
• Staff recruitment and retention
• Customer satisfaction
• Organisational image and reputation
• Potential litigation

It is also worth thinking about the impact that work-related stress could have on your unit or team. For example, losing one colleague for an extended period with a stress-related illness can have a dramatic impact on the workload and morale of the rest of the team.

By taking action to tackle the causes of stress in your workplace, you can prevent or reduce the impact of these problems on your organisation.

The moral/ethical case: Tackling stress prevents ill health

There is now convincing evidence that prolonged periods of stress, including work-related stress, have an adverse effect on health. Research provides strong links between stress and

• physical effects such as heart disease, back pain, headaches, gastrointestinal disturbances or various minor illnesses; and
• psychological effects such as anxiety and depression

Stress can also lead to other behaviours that are harmful to health, such as skipping meals, drinking too much caffeine or alcohol, or smoking.

Tackling the causes of stress before they lead to ill health can prevent this from happening.

The legal case: The law requires employers to tackle stress

The Management Standards are not new laws. However, employers already have duties:

Under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999:

• To assess the risk of stress-related ill health arising from work activities.

Under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974:

• To take measures to control that risk.

HSE expects organisations to carry out a suitable and sufficient risk assessment for stress, and to take action to tackle any problems identified by that risk assessment. The Standards are intended to help and encourage you to do this and to show that you have done so.

Securing commitment from employees and their representatives

There are a number of ways to get employees and their representatives on board and the following are key principles:

• Involve employee representatives (eg trade union and health and safety representatives) at the beginning of the process.
• Involve employees and their representatives in any groups you set up to take the work forward.
• If you decide to confine your efforts to a limited section of your organisation, consider how best to inform other employees.

The International Stress Management Association has produced a leaflet showing how employees can work with their employers to tackle work-related stress using the Management Standards approach. The leaflet is supported by HSE, Acas, TUC and the CIPD.

• “Working together to reduce stress at work” – a guide for employees [184kb]

Stress Policies

You may find it helpful to develop an organisational stress policy to underline that you take the issue of stress seriously and to set out what you plan to do.

• Example of a stress policy [54kb]

Steering Groups

• Guide to steering groups [62kb]

Choosing specialist support

If you do not feel that your organisation has the skills or resouces to implement the process you may consider using external help.

• Choosing an external provider

Begin your risk assessment

Now you can begin the five-step approach to assessing and tackling stress in your organisation.

Next: Step 1 - Identify the hazards