Workplace stress is a major problem in modern working environments. In a fast-moving world, employees of all descriptions can soon find themselves feeling the consequences of consistent stress in their working and personal lives.
According to the HSE’s Labour Force Survey, 602,000 workers in the UK reported suffering from depression, anxiety or stress at their place of employment. This equated to 12.8 million working days lost.
Here, we discuss how health and safety can play a pivotal role in reducing workplace worries, as well as explaining the employer’s responsibility in mitigating work-related stress.
The Employer’s Responsibility
Employers have a legal requirement to reduce workplace stress and put processes in place to protect the mental health of their employees.
If an employer believes a member of staff is dealing with the ill effects of stress, they must put in place a stress risk assessment.
If you have more than five employees, then it is a legal requirement to write the risk assessment down on appropriate paperwork.
The assessment must list the risks and solutions to workplace problems, such as stress. To find these, employers should consider these areas which affect stress levels:
- Demands
- Control
- Support
- Relationships
- Role
- Change
As you can see there are a number of factors employers should consider. The proper approach to investigating workplace stress is to take a broad, considered approach to what may be spiking employees’ stress.
One way to mitigate this stress is proper health and safety, as there is little more stressful than the direct, life-changing consequences of improper employee care.
How Health and Safety Standards Can Help
There are many causes of workplace stress, ranging from small to significant:
- Deadlines
- Lack of independence
- Poor management
- Poor working environment
- Experience of crisis incidents (severe injury, etc.)
The majority involve ensuring your business has sound organisational structure and support for employees, but the last two on this bullet-pointed list can be controlled with a well-organised workplace that adheres to health and safety.
However, to maintain a safe workplace, it is important to reduce stress as much as possible. Stressed employees, on average, pay less attention to their work and make more mistakes which can have a knock-on effect on the overall safety of your workplace.
In terms of direct, acute stress, one of the most impactful things an employee can go through is a workplace injury. By adhering strictly to health and safety standards, you can ensure your workplace has a good working environment while reducing the probability of crisis incidents at work.
Reducing workplace stress should be of paramount importance for any workplace – the benefits are not only clear for your business, but it can have a significant impact on the health and happiness of your employees.
Support Your Workplace With Safety Markers Today
To keep peace of mind and body in the workplace, ensure your health and safety guidelines and processes are up to date.
Communicate with employees to discover what they’re worried about and see if there is anything you can implement to improve their wellbeing.
In the short-term, consider our range of safety markers which give you a range of options to foster proper, modern health and safety practices.
