The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) expects organisations to carry out a suitable and sufficient risk assessment for stress, and to take action to tackle any problems identified by that risk assessment.
Work-related stress is a major cause of occupational ill health, which often leads to sickness absence, high staff turnover and poor performance. The HSE’s Management Standards helps organisations deal with the issue sensibly, and minimise the impact of work-related stress.
According to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), one in five employees are stressed at work, which equates to 29 days lost per stress incident. The HSE is committed to reducing work-related ill health by 20% by 2010 and also to reduce the number of working days lost from work-related injury and ill health by 30%. The Synergy Corporate Resilience Programme is a major step in achieving these targets.
The HSE has a wide range of enforcement powers to ensure employers fulfil their duties under health and safety legislation. These range from issuing improvement notices to failing employers, to criminal prosecution accompanied by a potentially unlimited fine. For instance, West Dorset General Hospitals NHS Trust was issued with an improvement notice by the HSE about the lack of appropriate systems in place, as it did not have a work related stress policy or a risk assessment of work related stress factors. This notice was lifted in March 2004. However, the fact that the notice was issued in the first place, highlights the need for organisations to ensure that procedures are in place for preventing and tackling work-related stress.
HSE Standards Areas:
Culture – The organisational approach to work-related stress.
Work Demands – Includes workload and work pressures.
Control – How much say an employee has in organising their work.
Relationships – Interpersonal relationships with other colleagues.
Change – Includes opportunities for consultations over issues of change.
Role – Includes clear and defined job specification.
Support – Includes help and advice from managers and peers.
In addition to the above, we are able through our own extensive research into health at work, to provide you with the following additional areas:
Synergy Research Areas:
Work-Life Balance – The impact of home life on work life and vice versa.
Innovation – Employees are encouraged to look at new ways of working.
Connection with the Organisation – A feeling of belonging.
Job Satisfaction – Fulfilment and contentment with work.
Personal Factors – Includes issues surrounding relevant job skills/training.
Effects of Pressure – Perceived levels of stress.
Workplace Perceptions – Level of stimulation obtained from role.
This synergistic programme can dovetail with other business, health & safety and human resource policies as part of an integrated approach to developing and managing a safe, resilient and performance-driven organisation in the face of the fast-paced and continuously changing environment in which many organisations operate.
We at Synergy are of the view that your workforce is your most effective asset. A workforce that has a healthy work/life balance has proved to be the most productive. In order to maintain the productivity, health and well being of your employees, we offer a range of services designed to meet the requirements of your staff groups, or individual needs.
All our services aim to create a safe environment in which staff are encouraged (individually or as a group) to examine their relationship to the values, demands and culture of the workplace and their professional/ personal coping mechanisms for promoting healthy work-life balance.
We will focus upon individuals becoming aware of and acknowledging the values, culture, challenges and demands of the organisation, and their individual capacity to effectively rise to the challenge. This will be achieved
by examining attitudes, values, coping strategies, communication and life skills.
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