Early intervention and immediate corrective action
For all work-related ill health, the HSE
recommends early intervention as a key aspect of ensuring the best
outcome for the employee and employer.
Tackling the
risk factors for work-related stress
Line
management competences for preventing and reducing work-related
stress
More information
about mental health interventions
Advice for employees
Getting
more help
Tackling the risk factors for work-related stress
There’s lots of good advice about what to do to tackle stress
issues on the HSE’s best practice
pages. In particular, there’s advice about tackling each of the six
factors:
- demands – such as workload, work patterns and the work
environment
- control – such as how much say the person has in the way they
do their work
- support – such as the encouragement, sponsorship and resources
provided by the organisation, line management and colleagues
- relationships – such as promoting positive working to avoid
conflict and dealing with unacceptable behaviour
- role – such as whether people understand their role in the
organisation and whether the organisation makes sure that they
don’t have conflicting roles
- change – such as how organisational change (large or small) is
managed and communicated in the organisation
Find
out more...
The HSE Research Report ‘Beacons of
excellence in stress prevention’ identifies good practice in
stress prevention and management, and provides case study examples
of organisations in the UK that have demonstrated good practice in
stress prevention and management.
ACAS also provides advice about each of the six factors and how
to tackle them in advisory
booklet – stress at work.
Line management competences for preventing and reducing
work-related stress
The HSE, in association with the Chartered Institute of
Personnel and Development (CIPD) and Investors in People, has
designed a tool to allow managers to assess whether they currently
have the behaviours identified as effective for preventing and
reducing stress at work. The following resources are available
about the tool and its development:
More information about mental health interventions
'Workplace
interventions for people with common mental health problems',
by the British Occupational Health Research Foundation
(BOHRF), provides the following:
Recognition, resolution and recovery: early intervention to support
psychological health and wellbeing is a reference guide from
Australian Government Homecare aimed at helping managers to
recognise the warning signs and take action to support at-risk
employees.
Avoiding long-term incapacity for work: developing an early
intervention in primary care from Department for Work and
Pensions contains a review of the evidence base for early
intervention in problems including mental health and work-related
stress.
Working for a healthier tomorrow – Dame Carol Black’s review of
the health of working age people, including a section on early
intervention.
Mental
health and work – A report from the Royal College of
Psychiatrists, including advice on early intervention and
prevention of sickness absence
Advice for employees
If you think you’re experiencing stress-related symptoms or
suffering from a mental health problem, it may be a good idea to
speak to your GP. It’s also advisable to talk to your line manager,
human resources department or occupational health provider.
It could also be useful to review your lifestyle to see if you
can identify any contributing factors. The HSE suggests avoiding
the following:
eating on the run, or in a disorganised manner
smoking or drinking excessively
rushing, hurrying, being available to everyone
doing several jobs at once
missing breaks, taking work home with you
having no time for exercise and relaxation
The HSE provides a list of
useful links to other organisations that might be able to help you
with issues that are causing you to feel stressed.
Getting more help
A number of organisations offer help and advice.
- Health, Work
and Well-being is a government-led scheme that provides advice
to improve the health and wellbeing of working age people.
- Health for Work Adviceline for
Small Business is a free service to help you quickly and
effectively address the issue of employee ill health, minimise the
impact of staff illness, and provide essential support to staff
with physical or mental health issues.
- Mindful Employer is a
voluntary and informal network of employers and support
organisations which provides information, advice and practical
support on
mental health issues to UK employers.
- Healthy Working Lives
Scotland has a free national advice line providing confidential
advice and information on a wide range of workplace health issues,
including health promotion; occupational safety and health;
employability; and vocational rehabilitation. Their website also
has other useful resources.
-
Healthy Minds at Work (Wales) provides an email address for
confidential health and advice.
- NHS Health at Work offers a
range of services to the employers through a national network of
NHS occupational health businesses.
- ACAS provide
a helpline for both employers and employees who are involved in an
employment dispute or are seeking information on employment rights
and rules. The helpline provides clear, confidential, independent
and impartial advice to assist the caller in resolving issues in
the workplace.
- The CIPD
website provides information on harassment and bullying at
work.
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