Stress Management Standards

The centrepiece of the HSE’s efforts to tackle stress in recent years has been its Management Standards. Although it says a good number of employers in the public and private sector are using the Management Standards, it does not have a comprehensive list of those involved.

The Management Standards have also been endorsed by unions. For example, the TUC has stated:

“The TUC welcomes these Standards. In the absence of legislation, they are the most effective tool that employers can use to help end the epidemic of stress-related illness. We hope that employers will work with safety representatives and stewards to use them within every workplace.”

The HSE believes that the Management Standards help simplify risk assessment for work-related stress. It states that they help identify the main risk factors for work-related stress, help employers focus on the underlying causes and their prevention, and provide a yardstick by which organisations can gauge their performance in tackling the key causes of stress.

However, despite the Management Standards being in existence for some years now, the TUC’s 2012 safety reps’ survey found that stress remains the top workplace health concern. As a result, the TUC and unions continue to campaign for specific regulations and an approved code of practice (ACOP) on stress. Meanwhile, the Management Standards remain the means by which reps can raise the issue of workplace stress and take steps to tackle it.