Preventing Work-related Stress and Protecting Mental Health is a Priority for your business

Published by Jessica in stress, health, wellbeing · Friday 13 May 2022
Tags: mental, health, stress, wellbeing

Work is good for us but when it starts to impact on our mental health, this is when a preventative approach is essential for all businesses.

Work has changed for all of us since the start of the pandemic and we have had to change the way we worked and where we worked. This has resulted in us having little or no control in our lives which can have a huge impact on our mental health. As life is slowly returning to more 'normal' we have slightly more control around whether we are going to be working from home all the time or hybrid. However, it does depend what job you are in as some jobs particularly in the health sector or in warehouses or factories, there is no choice.

The demands of jobs have been high and job roles have changed significantly with little or no support from managers as they are having difficulty coping how to manage. Many are not taking breaks including lunch and this leads to high stress levels and can then lead to burnout.

When work-related stress is a problem within a workplace, it is the law that a risk assessment is carried out to identify what is the main cause(s) of stress, and to take effective steps how to reduce and in time prevent stress at work.

The statistics for stress, depression and anxiety continue to rise year on year.

822,000 workers reported experiencing work-related stress, depression or anxiety in 2020/21
2 in 5 employees reported that their mental health had worsened during the pandemic
Cost of poor mental health to UK employers is around £53-56 billion between 2020-21 from a recent Deloitte report
17.9 million working days lost due to work-related stress, depression or anxiety

A Primary approach to tackling work-related stress is the most effective, but far less common. It is about tackling stress at source and this is by assessing the risk, identify stressors, implement and evaluate interventions and involve staff in the best way forward for interventions. It also includes training and supporting managers how to identify stress early and to support the wellbeing of staff. Managers should be able to recognise and address ‘hidden’ risks such as presenteeism and signs an employee is struggling with their mental health.

The stress support package is suitable for small and medium sized businesses to ensure they comply with the law to assess the risk of work-related stress. It will guide you through each step of speaking with an employee to carrying out a stress risk assessment. It is an evidence based package and is being used by many companies throughout the UK.

YSM Solutions 3 step approach is to:

Prevent work-related injury and ill health to employees
Protect from harm
Promote wellbeing at work

To find out more or for a free consultation, please get in touch here