HSE’s most recent statistics show that 776,000 employees suffered work-related stress, depression, or anxiety in 2023-24. That translates to 16.4 million working days lost.1 Recognizing how important stress management is to the workforce, HSE has guidance on its website entitled “Work-related stress and how to manage it.”2
Employers’ legal duty to protect workers from health and safety risks includes protecting them from stress at work. Employers are obligated to conduct and act upon a risk assessment on stress at work. Assessments should focus on the following six areas of work design that affect stress levels in employees:
- Demands: Workers may state that they can’t cope with the demands of their job, such as tight deadlines.
- Control: Workers may feel unable to control the way they perform their work.
- Support: Workers may say that they don’t receive enough information and support to properly do their work.
- Relationships: Workers may have trouble with their coworkers, including being bullied.
- Role: Workers may not fully understand their roles and responsibilities or may feel that they carry too much responsibility.
- Change: Workers aren’t informed and engaged when the business is undergoing change.
HSE’s Working Minds campaign supports the goal of reducing stress in the workplace. The Working Minds Poster–Prevent Stress at Work is a valuable resource as it outlines the steps an employer can take to decrease stress.
HSE’s website provides the following additional tools for employers combatting stress in the workplace:
The HSE also have a range of e-bulletins including a stress – click here to sign up HSE: Latest news on health and safety at work
Sources
1 https://www.hse.gov.uk/stress/overview.htm
Work-related stress, depression, or anxiety statistics in Great Britain 2024,
