HSE Issues First Stress-at-Work Enforcement Notice

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The contatant bullying of employees by their bosses is a disgrace in this country. Constant pressure to achieve targets to make the greedy employers larger profits. I believe that workers should be able to sue their their employers for stress and the path to compensation should be easier. If employers treated employees better there would be no stress. When I was a manger I treated my staff with respect, not how most employees are treated.

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Like it or not stress is here and we have to deal with it! In the past employees wouldn't talk about being stressed because of possible reprocussions, they would go home and moan to their partners or friends or even turn to drink.

Today we have Acts and Regulations to enable an employee to say they are stressed and expect some support. I am trying to get my employer to become more stress aware and to save him any possible litigation costs in the future, even that,s quite stressful.

Did you know that 'self-reported work-related stress, depression or anxiety accounted for an estimated thirteen and a half million reported lost working days per year in Britain'

I agree with George Lloyd, and say we must be proactive not reactive against workplace stress, the latter costs too much!

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Monday, first day back at work - stress level high.

Tuesday/Wednesday, same old rubbish - stress level moderate as now used to it.

Thursday, weekend approaching - stress level falling.

Friday, weekend virtually here - stress level low.

Saturday/Sunday, (if weather good) on the motorbike - stress, what stress?

Its all relative to your outlook on life... If you are a 'glass is half full' type of person you just deal with it. Beats me how regulations will remove it.

If anyone has the facilities in the UK to host a free 2-3 hour workshop on how to tackle stress at work please will they email karmapractice at mail dot com. The workshops will be run for free by members of the International Stress Management Association to coincide with National Stress Awareness Day in November, and they will provide an update on the HSE management standards on stress.

Rod - Thanks for this. We will pass this bit of advice on to other members.

Stress is a real problem but sometimes the S word can be overused and lead to an emotional response both on the part of individuals and managers.

We have added the common symptoms of stress to our annaul health surveillance "Body Mapping" execise which was originally introduced to monitoring muscluoskeletal pain.

Theses include headaches, digestive problems, skin rashes, hypertension, anxiety and depression.

It seems to be working well and allows managers to identify those with specifice problems and hopefully deal with the causes.

The issue relating to stress, is being taken too far. Risk Assessments again are fine for the general work related issues. However, to carry out an assessment on stress only feeds the employee with more information in which to take the Company to court with.

I feel that if managers are trained to identify an employee who may be under stress and not just pressure. To then record and monitor the changes made to ensure that help is give and can be seen to be given each step of the way. Also provide an independent counselling number for employees to use.

I then see no reason why a company should pay for an expensive assessment, that only 50% of the workforce may complete and return, to then be told that you do not have a problem. What about the 50% that did not fill in the forms, who may well, be the employees who are under stress?

As with all walks of life there will be those that are genuinely 'stressed' and need assistance both in their work and professional life and there are those that are simply blagging it !

It seems endemic within our society in general that people will jump on a legitimate excuse and turn it to their own favour. Take football - once a great game and now made a mockery by 'cheats' and 'divers'. I am a senior FM in a large organisation with 2600 people on site. We have legitimate cases and we clearly have made up ones where people are just trying to use the system.

Increased focus on stress is great as long as the HSE are careful not to shoot the innocent employers as well as the guilty!!

Before we know it we will have the 'no win' 'no fee' lawyers prowling our work car park's and reception lobbies touting for stress victims.

There is plenty of stress where i work. But hey we all have to make a living dont we?

On the other hand, what about the stress suffered by those who are being Victimised at work? dont those people need support? You might argue that the union will support them? But all the unions do is go and talk with there employers who, usually withdraw an up and coming discipline for the time being only to victimise more at a later date! Often making the employees life hell.

Also often no discipline is applied to the perpetrator, he always gets off ! why is that? The unions have too many cases of Stress at work to deal with at any one time, thats why ! I would like to see bullies in the workplace dealt with and the disiplinary proceedure applied to them more often.

Stress at work is a big isue. yes there is stres from domestic circumstances but the duty of care is the employers responsibility and needs to be addressed.

We cannot ignore the impact of long hours, shifts, and pressure of targets and deadlines. Workers do not come to work to be made ill. The work environment has to be seen to be safe and made safe.

The bottom line is not someone elses "profit and lifestyle" it is the health and safety of the workplace and safe systems of work.

It is the 21st century. Bullying, harassment and unsafe work practices should be confined to history.

Employees treated well by good employers respond accordingly.

Pity the poor NHS staff - spurious government targets to meet, the fear of patient litigation if something doesn't go quite right, assaults in accident & emergency departments, more managers than patient beds, low salaries and now the threat of unlimited fines if they don't take almost immediate action to discover and take steps to counteract stress. I have sent my copy of Catch 22 to the HSE - they may not appreciate the irony but I just couldn't resist it!

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Stress at work is, in my experience, normally suffered more by people that have other stress in their lives. A level approach to dealing with people suffering stress allows you to deal with the issue as a whole by offering various forms of support (we have a family assistance programme) to deal with stress as a general problem rather than focusing on the 'stress at work' factor.

The only way to stop the stress bandwagon is to be pro-active and get policy in place quickly, and by taking a wholistic approach to the issue. It isn't just "a work thing"

If you can't stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen.

Can managers sue HSE for stress caused by excess of regulation?

I WUNDER IF THERE IS ANY STRESSSSSS IN THE HSE AND WHAT THEIR POLICY IS AND WHO ENFORCES IT?

More Health and Safety tyranny

Blimy