Organisations are legally required to assess
the risks to employees' health and safety arising from exposure to
hazards in the workplace.
Assessing the risk arising from exposure to
stress at work forms part of this requirement. Employers must endeavour to remove or reduce
the stress risks identified from an assessment.
Assessing work stress key points
- An assessment of stress at work allows an
employer to understand the stress risks to which employees are
exposed, and to take action to remove or reduce such risks in order
to optimise the well-being and performance of employees at
work.
- A variety of methods for assessing stress at
work are available, and organisations should consider which methods
are suitable for their workforce. It is recommended that a number
of methods are used, at the level of the organisation, the team and
the individual.
- Organisational-level assessments consider the
well-being of employees across the entire organisation, and include
the monitoring of organisational data, and stress surveys. They are
often conducted by Human Resources, Health and Safety, or
Occupational Health.
- Team-level assessments examine the causes or
consequences of stress across a single team or department, and are
usually carried out or instigated by line managers. They can
include walk- and talk-throughs, the monitoring of organisational
data, focus groups and team meetings.
- Employers may wish to consider providing
managers with specific risk assessment forms to help them to
structure their assessment and record any output. Managers should
be made aware that completion of the forms must be based upon the
employees' perceptions of their work and not on their own
judgements.
- Individual-level assessments are required to
identify whether specific employees are experiencing problems at
work, and are usually carried out by line managers. They can
involve the monitoring of organisational data, performance
appraisals, one-to-ones and return-to-work interviews. In certain
circumstances employers may wish to bring in either an internal or
external third party to conduct the assessment.
- Team- and individual-level assessments should be
integrated into line managers' business-as-usual activities.
Organisations may also wish to consider incorporating such
activities into managers' appraisals to encourage them to assess
stress amongst their teams, and to enable their ability to carry
out such activities to be monitored.
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