Eight in ten UK employers are in danger of flouting upcoming laws by failing to properly deal with employee stress, according to new research.
A survey by Croner found that 79 per cent of businesses have taken no action to implement the Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) stress management standards, which were published last year.
Although the standards currently act only as guidelines, they will be made compulsory later this year. If a certain percentage of employees feel that their firm doesn’t meet the standards, then the employer will fail an assessment.
Over half of those surveyed were unaware of the standards, while a further 24 per cent have taken no action to put them into practice.
The HSE has identified six main sources of stress that employers must combat: demands of the job, control over how to work, support from colleagues and management, working relationships, clarity of role and organisational change.
Workplace stress accounts for around 90 million working days lost a year, costing businesses an estimated £3.7 billion.
Katherine Hunter, health and safety expert at Croner, said that under current legislation employers must ensure staff are not made ill by their work.
“However, our survey suggests that companies are not doing enough to manage the six key stressors identified by the HSE.
“Misconceptions about stress need to be challenged to make people aware that it is not a weakness on behalf of the employee, but a serious occupational health condition,” she said.
