HSE Stress Management Standards

[ch 3: page 20]

In April 2021, the HSE urged employers to review the stress-causing factors in their workplaces and the work that their employees do, as “the last year has presented new challenges that have never been faced before, and which may affect the workplaces of the UK for some time to come”.

The HSE has devised Stress Management Standards which “cover six key areas of work design that, if not properly managed, are associated with poor health, lower productivity and increased accident and sickness absence rates”:

• demands — including workload, work patterns and the work environment;

• control — how much say the person has in the way they do their work;

• support — including the encouragement and resources provided by the organisation, line management and colleagues;

• relationships — including promoting working in a way to avoid conflict and dealing with unacceptable behaviour;

• role — whether people understand their role within the organisation and whether it ensures that they do not have conflicting roles; and

• change — how organisational change (large or small) is managed and communicated.

A HSE workbook can also be accessed online at www.hse.gov.uk. See Chapter 4 for further information on how to use the management standards.