LifeCraft

Primary

This is where to start and is concerned with identifying the possible causes of stress, plus the level of risk to individuals and the organisation as a whole.

In other words Risk Assessment:

Employers have a duty of care to look after their employees and it is now recognised that workplace stress can endanger the health, safety and welfare of employees. Employers are also required by law to carry out risk assessments to “make a suitable assessment of the risks to the health and safety of employees”.
They are advised to carry out these risk assessments at regular intervals and review them at times of significant change.

What The Health and Safety Executive recommends:

In their current guidance on work related stress The Health and Safety Executive [HSE] states that:
It is an employer’s duty in law to make sure that employees aren’t made ill by their work, and stress can make employees ill.
Where stress caused or made worse by work could lead to ill health, employers must assess the risk.

The guidance provides valuable advice on risk assessment as a whole and, in particular, basic information on how to risk assess for work-related stress.
This includes a breakdown of the six broad categories of risk factors for work-related stress:
Demands – includes issues like workload, work patterns and the work environment
Control - how much say the person has in the way they do their work
Support – includes the encouragement, sponsorship and resources provided by the organisation, line management and colleagues
Relationships – includes promoting positive working to avoid conflict and dealing with unacceptable behaviour
Role – whether people understand their role in the organisation
Change - how organisational change is managed and communicated


Several qualitative methods of assessment are outlined by the HSE including:
Informal talks to staff
Performance appraisal
Focus Groups
Managing attendance
Quantitative methods suggested by the HSE are:
Gathering data on sickness/absence, productivity, and turnover
Carrying out a survey using a questionnaire, sometimes known as a Stress Audit

To achieve a comprehensive risk assessment we would recommend some form of stress survey for most organisations with over 100 employees. Such a survey will help define what action, if any, is needed and provide a reliable benchmark for future monitoring.