5. UNION ACTION ON STRESS AND MENTAL HEALTH AT WORK

Unions have long campaigned for work-related stress to be taken seriously by changing the law, through better regulation from Europe, or by a UK government, as the most effective means to ensure all employers tackle stress. They have also been at the forefront of workplace action to deal with stress, for example, by negotiating policies and agreements. Public services union UNISON says that its key messages are:

• work-related stress is a serious problem;

• tackling it effectively can result in significant benefits for organisations;

• there are practical things organisations can do to prevent, remove or control work-related stress;

• stress is a management issue which a manager can help resolve; and

• UNISON is working with members and employers to raise awareness of work-related stress and how it is best reduced, controlled and managed.

In addition, a key union message is that stress is an organisational, not an individual problem. The TUC warns against the new management buzzword “resilience”, where employers try to make workers more able to withstand stress rather than attacking the root of the problem by making workplaces healthier. Hugh Robertson, head of health and safety at the TUC, said: “One of the aims of resilience that makes it so attractive to managers is to try and ensure that people can work in more stressful conditions without becoming ill. This is completely against the principles of prevention that say that first of all you remove the hazard to remove the risk.”

The government’s mental health wellbeing and resilience pledge, launched in October commits firms to provide staff “with the environment and tools to develop and maintain emotional resilience and mental wellbeing, while raising awareness of, and providing support for, mental health issues in the workplace.”

The RCN nurses’ union has also reported a rise in personal resilience programmes and a focus on lifestyles and rather than organisational factors in the NHS.