The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) have launched their Working Minds campaign, which seeks to raise awareness about how to recognise and respond to the signs of stress in order to protect workers and support good mental health.
More working days are lost due to work-related stress than any other reason. In 2019/20, stress, depression and anxiety led to 17.9 million working days being lost, and it is estimated that mental health issues cost employers up to £45 billion a year.
There is a legal requirement for every employer to assess the risk of work-related stress and to adopt measures to tackle it.
When looking at work-related stress it is important to consider the many major factors present in workplaces that cause induce or worsen stress, including:
The Working Minds campaign has been launched by the HSE alongside partners including, Mind ACAS, Homecare association and more, and brings together a range of tools and support to help businesses and workers understand the best ways to prevent work-related stress and encourage good mental health.
Sarah Albon, Chief Executive of the HSE, commented: "For almost half a century, the HSE has worked with businesses across a range of sectors and industries to ensure all of us can go home safe and well at the end of the working day. Our Working Minds campaign is a reminder to employers that their responsibility to safeguard the health and safety of their workforce extends to psychological risks as well as physical ones – especially if they work from home. We know that small and medium-sized businesses often don’t have the resources of large corporates, so HSE has created a suite of materials including the five R’s (Reach out, Recognise, Respond, Reflect, and make it Routine), Stress Indicator tool and Talking Toolkit, which employers can use to proactively ensure the wellbeing of their workforce."
"Part of this is creating a culture where workers can feel as comfortable raising issues of stress as reporting that they have gone down with flu. With our campaign partner Mind, we are encouraging people to join our network of Working Mind champions to ensure nobody needs to struggle alone and in silence. At HSE we are working hard to support our staff through the challenges many of us have faced over the past 18 months, for example by embracing flexible work patterns or giving additional support to those whose roles have become increasingly demanding through the pandemic, but we are all on this journey together and it’s important that we all share what we learn as we move forward."
For more information see:
