HSENI tackle risks from work-related stress

HSENI has endorsed a new approach from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in Great Britain to help employers work with their employees to manage the risks from work-related stress.

Work-related stress is one of the leading causes of ill health in the workplace in Northern Ireland, affecting an estimated 16,000 people.

Liam McBrinn, Chairperson of HSENI said: “Tackling work-related stress has been identified as one of the major challenges under the workplace health strategy for Northern Ireland, Working for Health, launched last year.

“The Management Standards for Work-related Stress offer a very practical approach and demonstrate how easy it can be to reduce the causes of work-related stress.”

With input from a range of businesses, professional bodies, trade unions, and other Government agencies such as ACAS, HSE has developed an approach based on a continuous improvement model featuring a benchmarking tool to help managers gauge stress levels, compare themselves with other organisations, and work with employees to identify solutions.

Mr McBrinn added: “Pressure is part and parcel of all work and helps to keep us motivated. But excessive pressure can lead to stress which undermines performance, is costly to employers and can make people ill.

“It is essential that we all wake up to the impact that poor workplace health, including work-related stress, can have on our lives and its cost to the Northern Ireland economy as a whole. It is estimated that 70,000 people suffer from ill health caused or made worse by work at a cost to the local economy of £330 million each year,” he concluded.

(MB)