The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is urging employers across Great Britain to take immediate and practical action to prevent and manage work-related stress, which remains a leading cause of ill health. This critical call comes during Stress Awareness Week, emphasising that organisations have a legal duty to assess and control these significant workplace risks to protect their workforce.
Work-related stress is a pervasive issue, significantly impacting the health and wellbeing of employees nationwide. If left unaddressed, it can lead to increased sickness absence, reduced productivity, and a detrimental effect on overall workplace performance. The HSE highlights that many employers still do not fully recognise their obligation to manage stress risks with the same diligence applied to other physical health and safety hazards.
Through its proactive Working Minds campaign, the HSE is providing comprehensive support and resources to help employers meet these responsibilities. The campaign aims to demystify the process of identifying, assessing, and mitigating stress-related risks, making it accessible for all types of businesses, regardless of their size or sector. It underscores that even small, consistent actions can yield substantial positive changes in mental health outcomes.
A cornerstone of the Working Minds initiative is the practical ‘5Rs approach’, designed to guide employers through effective stress management. This framework encourages organisations to first ‘Reach Out’ by initiating open conversations about stress and mental wellbeing within their teams. Secondly, they must ‘Recognise’ the signs and underlying causes of stress, understanding its varied manifestations.
The third step, ‘Respond’, involves taking decisive action to address identified concerns and provide appropriate support to workers experiencing stress. Following this, employers are encouraged to ‘Reflect’ on the effectiveness of their interventions, reviewing what strategies are working well and identifying areas for continuous improvement. Finally, the HSE stresses the importance of making these practices ‘Routine’, embedding good mental health support into the everyday fabric of working life.
Further guidance is offered through the HSE’s Management Standards approach, which pinpoints six critical areas of work design that, if poorly managed, can significantly contribute to workplace stress. These include Demands (workload, work patterns, environment), Control (how much say a person has in the way they do their work), and Support (encouragement, sponsorship and resources provided by the organisation, line management and colleagues).
The remaining three standards focus on Relationships (promoting positive working to avoid conflict and dealing with unacceptable behaviour), Role (whether people understand their role within the organisation and whether the organisation ensures that they do not have conflicting roles), and Change (how organisational change is managed and communicated). By systematically reviewing these factors and engaging with workers, organisations can proactively identify and address potential stressors before they escalate into serious health issues or impact productivity.
Kayleigh Roberts, HSE’s Work-Related Stress Policy Lead, reinforced this message, stating: “Work-related stress is unequivocally a health and safety issue. Employers must assess the risks of stress and its profound impact on both mental and physical ill-health, applying the same rigorous standards they use for other work-related hazards.” She emphasised that a clear understanding of stress causes, coupled with active worker engagement and decisive risk control measures, is vital for fostering supportive and high-performing workplaces.
Stress Awareness Week serves as an opportune moment for employers and managers to critically evaluate their current provisions for mental wellbeing. The HSE advises reviewing existing stress risk assessments to ensure they accurately reflect current workplace risks and pinpointing areas where further action is required. Utilising tools like the Talking Toolkit can facilitate structured conversations with employees, while discussing the six Management Standards areas can provide a comprehensive overview of potential stressors.
Managers are strongly encouraged to access the wealth of training and resources available through the Working Minds campaign, including online learning modules and downloadable guidance materials. While Stress Awareness Week provides a valuable focal point, the HSE stresses that preventing and managing work-related stress is an ongoing commitment, requiring continuous vigilance and proactive measures to ensure a healthy and safe working environment for all.
This story was originally published by HSE Media Centre
