The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) ‘Go Home Healthy’ campaign is urging employers to ‘shine a light’ on health and do the right thing by protecting workers’ health. Everyone should go home healthy from work. #workright
The campaign is aimed at a broad spectrum audience ranging from employers, managers and employees to industry sector bodies. It centres on a website that leads the audience to more specific guidance and information, case studies, videos and thought leadership, on the three focal themes: occupational lung disease, musculoskeltal disorders (MSD’s) and work-related stress. We have chosen to focus this month on work-related stress.
Some companies don’t realise that the law requires employers to tackle work-related stress. Helping to tackle stress can prevent ill health and taking action on stress also brings business benefits; it reduces sickness absence, boosts morale and helps improve productivity.
Across Great Britain, over half (57%) of all working days lost to ill health (over 11 million working days) were lost last year because of stress. In the last 12 months, over 600,000 workers reported suffering from stress, depression or anxiety, caused or made worse by work. Stress affects us all at different times and in different ways. It can cause people to feel physically unwell, can cause mental health problems and can make existing problems worse. It’s important to remember that it’s not an employer’s or a line manager’s job to diagnose or treat stress, whatever its cause. If an employee is having problems, it’s important that they get help as soon as possible. Whether an employer is a small business or a large corporation, the law requires all employers to assess the risk of work-related stress and to put steps in place to tackle those risks.
Excessive pressure and demands at work can cause stress. This can lead to chronic physical and mental health conditions. Do the right thing and protect your workers from work-related stress.
In January 2018, The Evening Standard published the most popular New Year’s resolutions for 2018 according to a YouGov poll where 3 of the top 10 featured goals related to stress or health, so, now is the perfect time of year to make a conscious effort to reduce your stresses. Have you found yourself making any of these resolutions this year to buck the trend?:
1. Eat better
2. Exercise more
3. Spend less money
4. Self care (i.e. get more sleep)
5. Read more books
6. Learn a new skill
7. Get a new job
8. Make new friends
9. Get a new hobby
10. Focus more on appearance
You can visit the HSE website to find out more about what you can do including help and guidance on managing the risks of work-related stress. You can also download the talking toolkit on preventing work related stress PDF here
We understand that health and safety can sometimes be a headache with ever changing legislation, conflicting advice and not to mention pressures of an ongoing workload. Whatever your health and safety needs are, our ‘Hassle Free’ retained consultancy service is here to help.
You have a legal duty to protect workers from stress at work by doing a risk assessment and acting on it. You can use these examples to help you with your stress risk assessment, or alternatively we offer a Risk Assessment course aimed at staff with the responsibility for carrying out risk assessments within their workplace.
We want to help you make sure you, and your employees, go home healthy from work
Whatever your Health and Safety needs, give us a call today 0117 958 2070 or e-mail us
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