LifeCraft

stress

The adverse effects of unmanaged pressure that result in physical, emotional, mental and spiritual damage to an individual.

Stress is the result of pressure and the innability of individuals to reconcile the basic fight of flight reaction to situations seen as adverse to their survival.

Facts and figures about the growing problem of workplace stress.
“Stress is likely to become the most dangerous emerging risk to business in the early part of the 21st Century” [Association of Insurance and Risk Managers]

In 2000, The Health and Safety Commission [HSC] identified stress as one of its eight priority programmes aimed at reducing accidents, injuries and ill health in the workplace and together with the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions [DETR] launched the Revitalising Health and Safety initiative.

As a result the Health and Safety Executive is now engaged on a programme to tackle work-related stress through a range of actions including the introduction of Management Standards in November 2004.

The Management Standards cover six factors which can lead to work-related stress, namely demands, control, support, relationships, roles and change. To quote the HSE, “The Standards provide a yardstick against which organisations can measure their progress in tackling work-related stress and target action where it is most needed”.

The HSE recently issued its first ‘Improvement Notice'. This was against an NHS hospital for failing to protect doctors and nurses from stress at work. The hospital was given a deadline by which it must have assessed the levels of stress within its staff and introduced a programme to reduce the problem. If the hospital had failed to act it would have faced court action and fines under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act.
It is believed that further ‘Improvement Notices’ will follow.

The costs of stress.
Over half a million people in the UK experience work-related stress at a level they believe is making them ill
Up to 5 million people in the UK feel 'very' or 'extremely' stressed by their work
Work -related stress costs society about £3.7 billion every year [at 1995/6 prices]
13.5 million working days are lost every year from stress related illness.
[ Health and Safety Commission]

Examples of recent survey findings include:
"Two in three people suffer from stress at work"
"Stress causes more staff absences than the common cold"
[Investors in People Survey]

What this means in today's workplace.
Recent years have been a period of 'downsizing, cost reduction and outsourcing'.
This new culture is characterised by longer working hours, job insecurity, and a conflict between the demands of home and work.

The survey findings below confirm this trend:
"1 in 3 partners of people who work more than 48 hours in a typical week, say that this has an entirely negative effect on their personal relationship"
[CPID Report]

"Between 1985 and 1995 UK levels of job satisfaction - in terms of job security - dropped from nearly 70% to below 50%, the biggest drop and the lowest level of any European country"
[Institute of Research survey]

"77% of UK managers say they work more than their contracted hours every week, with 72% saying this adversely affects their relationship with their spouse/partner and 59% saying it affected their health'"
[UMIST/Institute of Management 'Quality of Working Life Survey']

"Nearly two out of three UK managers indicated recent major structural change in their organisation. As a result of this, 53% of Directors, 64% of Senior Managers, and 75% of Middle / Junior Managers felt demoralised'"
[UMIST/Institute of Management 'Quality of Working Life Survey']