What is work related stress and how is it impacting your employees?
Did you know that April was Stress Awareness month? Created in 1992, it was designed to help the general public to be more aware of the risks of stress and to help people to manage stress if they are experiencing it.
According to a number of studies, the statistics around stress and the workplace are shocking. According to Statistica, the most common cause of stress is work-related, with 79% saying they frequently feel stressed at work. And 7% of adults in the UK feel stressed every single day, according to CIPHR.
Equally shocking, is the fact that 18 million days of work are lost each year across the UK due to mental health conditions, so it’s important that organisations are looking at the risks to their team’s mental health in the workplace and are taking proactive steps to minimise the impact of any work-related stress.
In this blog, we talk about some of the factors that cause work-related stress and the ways it can help organisations can make work a psychologically safe place for people, to improve employee wellbeing and overall productivity and profitability.
What is mental wellbeing in the workplace?
The Health & Safety Executive define mental health as the way we think, feel and behave. Anxiety and depression are the most common mental health challenges and stress in the workplace can exacerbate an existing mental health condition. Stress also has a huge physical impact on a person too, from increased blood pressure to cardio-vascular disease.
What is an employer responsible for when it comes to mental wellbeing?
As an employer, it’s important to create a place of psychological safety in the workplace which prevents any psychological harm to an employee. Employers are responsible for minimising pressure, manging potential sources of stress and limiting the negative impact that work can have on your employees. Employees should be offered a place of work where they can realise their own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life and are supported to work productively.
The HSE’s Preventing Stress toolkit is a brilliant resource if you aren’t sure where to start. They outline the key responsibilities for an employer (regardless of size) and suggest that tackling stress in the workplace as soon as possible will have a better outcome for the individual and business.
How can you establish the level of stress in your workplace?
An employer isn’t responsible for diagnosing stress, they are responsible for supporting an individual to seek the help they need. Some brilliant questions you can ask yourself about your employees and the workplace are:
Can they cope with the demands of the job?
Are they able to shape the way in which they work?
Are they given the support and information they need from management and colleagues, to allow them to do their job well?
Are the relationships in the workplace positive – is there any sign of bullying or harassment?
Are they clear on their roles and responsibilities?
Are they consulted and informed of any changes within the organisation that might impact their role?
Having an overall understanding of all the potential psychosocial hazards in your organisation is a brilliant way to mitigate the risk of stress in the workplace. How work is organised, the impact of social factors and potentially hazardous tasks can be all have a knock-on effect and will impact an individual’s wellbeing and the organisational performance.
How can an employer demonstrate a commitment to psychological safety in the workplace?
Back in June 2021, BSI introduced ISO 45003, the first global standard to recognise the importance of emotional wellbeing in the workplace. Designed to bring psychosocial risks in the workplace in line with other health and safety risks, the ISO 45003 standard works well alongside, ISO 45001 for Occupational Health & Safety, or on its own.
You can work with one of Continual Improvement’s Health & Safety Management Consultants who can help you implement, audit and certify to ISO 45003, a great addition for any business who has implemented ISO 45001.
Please get in touch with our team of ISO consultants to find out how to get ISO 45003 certification quickly and easily implemented to minimise stress in the workplace.
Our ISO consulting services are designed to help you demonstrate your commitment to psychological safety in the workplace.
