Transcript No Slide Title

www.tuc.org.uk
Stress at Work
Tom Mellish, TUC
Health and Safety Policy Officer
www.tuc.org.uk
Stress at Work
The TUC’s Vision
No one should leave work at the
end of the day less healthy than
they were when they started
www.tuc.org.uk
Stress at Work
Topics to be covered
• Stress – what it is and what a
policy could look like
• Stress - and bullying
- and alcohol/drugs
www.tuc.org.uk
Stress at Work
Definition of stress
“the adverse reaction people have
to excessive pressure or other
types of demand placed on
them.”
www.tuc.org.uk
Stress at Work
HSE research indicates that:
• about half a million people
experience work-related stress at
a level they believe was making
them ill;
• up to 5 million people in the UK
feel “very” or “extremely”
stressed by their work; and
• work-related stress costs society
between £3.7 billion and £3.8
billion every year.
www.tuc.org.uk
Stress at Work
TUC SURVEY OF TRADE
UNION SAFETY
REPRESENTATIVES
1998, 2000 & 2002
www.tuc.org.uk
Stress at Work
TUC Survey
• 250,000 Safety Reps in UK
• Over 8,9200 in 2000, 5,350 in
2002 and 4,500 in 2004
• Over 1,000 from workplaces with
fewer than 50 employees
www.tuc.org.uk
Stress at Work
Risks
2000
2002
2004
Stress
66%
55%
58%
Slips/Trips
32%
33%
DSE
36%
34%
MSD
45%
31%
RSI
41%
37%
Temp
31%
23%
Noise
26%
20%
www.tuc.org.uk
Stress at Work
Stress
Factors
2002
2004
Workloads
Cuts in staff
Change
Long hours
Shift work
Bullying
99.4%
64%
63%
55%
22%
28%
79%
49%
47%
37%
22%
27%
www.tuc.org.uk
Stress at Work
• where there are over 1000
workers the percentage rises to
63%;
• overwork or stress is more of a
concern in the public sector
(64%), than in the private sector
(48%) and this represents an
increase in both sectors since
2002;
www.tuc.org.uk
Stress at Work
Workloads
In 2004 survey, 4 out of every 5
safety reps (79%) consider that
workloads are a problem.
Compared to private sector
(73%), problem of workloads is
greater in public sector (83%)
and voluntary sector (77%).
www.tuc.org.uk
Stress at Work
Staff cuts up from third to second
place as main stress related
problem. Staff cuts identified by
half the safety reps (49%) in the
2004 survey, show similar results
to 2002 and 2000 surveys. They
are identified more often in the
private sector (53%) than in the
public.
www.tuc.org.uk
Stress at Work
For individual sectors, as in 2000, cuts in
staff a particular problem:
• Central Government (69%);
• Banking, Finance and Insurance (59%).
Staff cuts more concern to safety reps
in:
• workplaces with 100 - 200 workers
(51%) and over 1000 workers (55%);
and in
• London (57%) and the South East
(54%).
www.tuc.org.uk
Stress at Work
• Safety reps in all sizes of
workplace identified workloads as
a major problem, but the worst
are workplaces with between
100-200 workers (84%).
• Workload is a particular problem
in South West England - 86%
identified it as an issue related to
stress.
www.tuc.org.uk
Stress at Work
For individual sectors, workloads
are a particular problem
identified by safety reps in:
• Education (88%);
• Central Government (85%);
• Health Services, Local
Government and Banking,
Finance and Insurance (all 83%).
www.tuc.org.uk
Stress at Work
Bullying
Bullying still significant problem.
Number of safety reps identifying
it is just over one in four (27%).
More often in the public sector
(30%) and voluntary sector
(29%) than in the private (20%).
www.tuc.org.uk
Stress at Work
Bullying is seen as an increasing
problem since 2002 by safety reps in:
• Central Government (40% increasing
from 37%);
• Local Government (37% increasing from
33%)
• Bullying more of a problem as size of
workplace increases - 34% of safety
reps from workplaces over 1000
compared with 18% in workplaces with
fewer than 50 workers.Bullying
particular problem in London (36%) and
Wales (33%).
www.tuc.org.uk
Stress at Work
Sources of stress include:
• Job design – boring, no control, isolation,
pace/flow,lack of breaks, too little/too
much work
• Contractual – low pay, unsocial hours,
long hours, excessive overtime, job
insecurity
• Environment – noise, lighting,
overcrowding, fumes, canteen,
temperature
• Relationships – supervisors,
sexism/racism, bullying, violence,
communication, customers,
www.tuc.org.uk
Observational:Workers may act
differently when stressed
Mood changes:
• bad moods
• aggression
• irritability
• irrationality
• overreacting
• negativity
• Indecisiveness
Behaviour
change:
• forgetfulness
• mistakes
• accident
prone
• speaking too
loud/fast
• personal
appearance
www.tuc.org.uk
Stress at Work
Organisational
In an organisation stress may
manifest itself as:
• High levels of sickness and
absence
• High accident rates
• High turnover of staff
• Low morale
• Low productivity
• Bullying
www.tuc.org.uk
Stress at Work
Self-reported
physical and emotional symptoms of stress
• Headaches
• Aches and
pains
• Nausea or
dizziness
• Lethargy
• Unexplained
rashes
• Indigestion
and heart burn
• Low self
esteem
• Poor
concentration
• Loss of libido
• Depression or
anxiety
• Anger irritability
• Panic attacks
www.tuc.org.uk
Stress at Work
An effective policy on stress should:
• recognise stress as a health and
safety issue;
• be jointly developed and agreed
with trade unions;
• have commitment from the top;
• guarantee a non-judgemental
approach; and
• apply to everyone
www.tuc.org.uk
Stress at Work
The objectives of a policy should
be:
• to prevent stress by identification
and elimination;
• to recognise and deal with stress
through education, participation
and co-operation; and
• to rehabilitate through the
provision of independent and
confidential counselling
www.tuc.org.uk
Stress at Work
Key to a stress policy is good risk
assessment. This should include:
Physical environ
Job content
Management
Service conditions
Managing change
Equipment
Working time
Training
Support
systems
www.tuc.org.uk
Stress at Work
Court of Appeal Judgement,
February 2002
(Hatton, Barber, Bishop and Jones)
• Foreseeable
• Workplace Signs
• Signs from the Employee
• Prior Sickness Periods
• Advice line
www.tuc.org.uk
Stress at Work
• Union Campaign for legislation
• HSE Standards on Managing
Stress at Work
www.hse.gov.uk/stress/stresspilot
/standards.htm
www.tuc.org.uk
Stress at Work
Provision of occupational health
•
•
•
•
•
Access to OH services
Workplace OHS
Group OHS
Contracted-out OH
HSE’s Employment Medical
Advisory Service (EMAS)
• National Health Service models
• Community Services