Chief Executives' Forum focuses on work-related stress

The Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland has highlighted the problems of public sector workers facing high levels of stress at work to delegates attending the Chief Executives' Forum today.

HSENI Chief Executive, Jim Keyes, said: "The management of work-related stress, one of the leading causes of ill health in the workplace in Northern Ireland, is a particular challenge for the public sector.

"Recent surveys point to teachers and professionals working in health and social services as being amongst those most likely to report a problem with stress at work".

Mr Keyes was speaking at a seminar held today at the Hilton Hotel in Templepatrick, organised by HSENI and the Chief Executives' Forum for the public sector. Delegates heard about the scale of the problem of stress at work and how this issue can be addressed.

He said: "In the public sector, work-related stress is one of the major preventable causes of work-related ill health and I welcome today's opportunity to examine practical ways of stamping out stress in the workplace."

Speakers at the seminar included: Professor Tom Cox, who has carried out extensive research on the subject of work-related stress; and local solicitor, Maxine Orr, who speaks regularly on the costs of litigation in such cases. In addition, a number of practical studies from the local public sector were presented.

Chair of the Workplace Health Strategy Implementation Group, Liam McBrinn, added: "Tackling work-related stress has been identified as one of the major challenges for Northern Ireland under our workplace health strategy 'Working for Health' launched earlier this year. I am delighted that the Chief Executives' Forum has joined forces with HSENI to deliver this very timely and relevant seminar aimed at raising awareness of this very significant cause of work-related ill health which affects an estimated 16,000 people in Northern Ireland."

He concluded: "Managing health and safety well not only means saving lives but also reducing costs, improving profits and enhancing competitiveness. Managing stress at work should be the same as minimising any other risk in the workplace. Companies often underestimate the extent to which stress can affect business performance. The key is prevention rather than cure."

Further information on work-related stress is available from HSENI's Information and Advice Centre at 83 Ladas Drive Belfast or by calling the Information and Advice Helpline on 0800 0320 121.

Further information is also available from the HSENI website at www.hseni.gov.uk.

(SP)