As an employer, by law, you have a duty to protect workers from stress by performing risk assessments and making necessary and reasonable adjustments based on your findings.
What counts as stress?
The HSE definition of stress is it’s an “adverse reaction people have to excessive pressures or other types of demand placed on them.”
Stress builds up over time when an employee has more pressure than they can cope with. It is an employer’s duty to match the demands of the job role and workload to each individual’s skill set, experience, and knowledge.
There are 6 main areas of work that impact stress levels:
- Demands
- Control
- Support
- Relationships
- Role
- Change
These are the criteria to review and upon which your stress risk assessments should be marked and appropriate actions taken.
What are the signs of Stress?
Stress is not considered an illness; however, it can often be a gateway to actually becoming ill. There are 2 defining types of stress. The first is Stress in Teams and the second is Stress in a Worker which can both be classified as:
Signs of Stress in Teams
| Signs of Stress in a Worker
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Performing Stress-Related Risk Assessments
If you’re like most small businesses with fewer than 5 people, it’s not necessary for you to note down your risk assessments, however, it’s useful to have these notes on hand to review later or especially if a complaint is raised and you have no documentation. On the other hand, if you have 5 or more employees, it’s a legal requirement to document your risk assessment.
Any documentation regarding stress risk assessments made should be created with communication in mind. It should convey any risks found and the management tools or changes you use to mitigate them. It’s not difficult, just note any risks (and any significant points regarding them) along with what you decided to do about it.
An easy way to record your findings is by using the HSE risk assessment template which you can find here.
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