Preventive action and early identification
This section outlines the legal context for
and the method of carrying out a stress risk assessment.
Legal
background
More
relevant legislation
Preventive
action
Stress risk
assessment
Other
sources of stress risk assessment information
Legal background
The Health and Safety at
Work etc Act 1974 requires employers to secure the health
(including mental health), safety and welfare of employees at work.
This includes providing a safe place of work, safe systems of work,
and information and training.
The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 (as
amended) require suitable and sufficient assessments of health
and safety risks at work to be carried out – this includes the risk
of stress-related ill health.
The Equality Act
2010 consolidates, harmonises and expands on existing
discrimination law. It imposes a duty on employers to make
reasonable adjustments to their working practices and/or premises
to accommodate the needs of disabled people. The Act gives rights
to people who have or have had a disability which makes it
difficult for them to carry out day-to-day activities. The
disability could be physical, sensory or mental. It must also be
substantial and have a long-term effect, ie it must last or be
expected to last for at least 12 months. Find out more by visiting
the
Equality and Human Rights Commission.
More relevant legislation
The
Working Time Regulations 1998
The Working Time Regulations place a weekly maximum on working
hours. Adult workers can’t be forced to work more than 48 hours a
week on average. This is typically averaged over a 17-week period.
Certain occupations aren’t covered, and if you’re 18 or over and
wish to work more than 48 hours a week, you can choose to opt out
of the 48-hour limit. This must be voluntary and be done in
writing. Find out more on the
Directgov.
The
Protection from Harassment Act 1997
The Protection from Harassment Act makes it a criminal offence
to pursue a course of conduct which amounts to harassment of a
person.
Employment Rights Act
The Employment Rights Act 1996 and
Employment Act 2002 set
out many of the statutory rights that most employees can get when
they work, including unfair dismissal, reasonable notice before
dismissal, time-off rights for parenting, redundancy and the right
to request flexible working time.
Preventive action
The HSE Management
Standards cover six key areas of work design which, if not
properly managed, are associated with poor health and wellbeing,
lower productivity and increased sickness absence. In other words,
the six Management Standards cover the primary sources of stress at
work:
- demands – this includes issues such as workload, work patterns
and the work environment
- control – how much say the person has in the way they do their
work
- support – this includes the encouragement, sponsorship and
resources provided by the organisation, line management and
colleagues
- relationships – this includes promoting positive working to
avoid conflict and dealing with unacceptable behaviour
- role – whether people understand their role in the organisation
and whether the organisation ensures that they do not have
conflicting roles
- change – how organisational change (large or small) is managed
and communicated in the organisation
The HSE management
standards approach can be used to help organisations:
- identify the main risk factors for work-related stress
- focus on the underlying causes and their prevention
- provide a yardstick by which you can gauge your performance in
tackling the key causes of stress
For more information, see the HSE Management Standards
webpages.
Two papers describe the evidence behind the HSE’s approach to
tackling stress and the development and
validation of the
Management Standards.
Stress risk assessment
An overview of the HSE Management Standards approach for
assessing and reducing the risks of work-related stress is
available from the HSE.
There’s more detailed information and support for each step of a
risk assessment process on the HSE website. The recommended steps
are:
What to do before you
start, including obtaining management
and employee
commitment
The HSE website also provides the following tools and
information:
Other sources of stress risk assessment information
The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work has a
factsheet
outlining a risk assessment process and another providing examples
of interventions
implemented in a number of European countries. The TUC website has
a step–by-step PowerPoint
guide with notes on how to assess the risks of stress. The
British Occupational Health Research Foundation’s ‘Systematic review
of workplace interventions for people with common mental health
problems’ advises that for employees who don't have common
mental health problems or who aren't at high risk, a range of
stress management interventions can have a beneficial and practical
impact.
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