RoSPA Press Office : Press Release
June 7, 2002
RoSPA AIMS TO CUT THE COSTS OF STRESS AT WORK
RoSPA is urging employers to give stress at work a higher profile in an effort to counter one of the biggest health problems facing business today.
Around half a million people in the UK are said to have experienced work-related stress, anxiety or depression at a level that has made them ill. With an estimated 6.5 million working days lost to stress each year, Health and Safety Executive guidelines now urge employers to carry out stress risk assessments. There are also proposals for an approved code of practice for managing stress in 2003.
As the pressure mounts on employers to act, stress will be the theme of this year’s European Week for Health and Safety at Work, which begins on October 14 – but RoSPA is already committed to helping them in a number of ways.
One-day courses on managing stress are being held in Birmingham on August 15, October 31 and December 10, and in Edinburgh on August 7, and December 2. They can also be run in-company with follow-up sessions for employees.
The main courses are aimed at directors, managers, health and safety advisers and those in charge of front-line staff. They are designed to help manage and minimise the levels of stress within an organisation. Special training on dealing with violence in the workplace can also be provided for employees who may face aggression from members of the public.
Roger Bibbings, RoSPA Occupational Safety Adviser, said: “We all need a certain amount of healthy pressure to be able to perform well at work, but when pressures due to uncertainty, lack of control and excessive workload combine to a point where employees just cannot cope, the results are invariably bad for people and bad for business.
“Stress can cost organisations a small fortune in absenteeism and lost productivity. Employers need to work with their employees and their representatives to identify stressors at work and ways in which the problem can be tackled at source. They also need to think about how to provide support and rehabilitation for those who have been damaged by stress.”
RoSPA also plans to launch its own web-based guidance for employers during European Week for Health and Safety at Work, focusing on the link between stress and accidents. The Society recently made the issue the focal point of its stand at Safety and Health Expo 2002 (picture available by e-mail) and offered a relaxing chair massage to take the strain out of a long day at the show.
