In a new survey, 90% of UNISON health and safety reps have identified stress as one of the main hazards in the workplace.
Responding ahead of next month’s European Health and Safety Week, reps explicitly placed stress along with other known casues of stress such as bullying and harrassment, violence and threats, overwork and long hours, as the most serious workplace concern.
The findings reinforce UNISON’s call for branches to support the European-wide health and safety awareness-raising week which runs form Monday 20 October to Sunday 26 October.
The focus of the week this year is on the need for employers to manage workplace stress.
And UNISON is urging branches to check that employers:
- have a policy and procedure on workplace stress, and if so, that it includes the ‘pointers’ identified in UNISON’s guide on stress;
- has risk assessed stress as a workplace hazard and put in place appropriate measures to prevent and control;
- that these policies, procedures, and risk assessments either take into account or take a similar approach to the HSE’s management standards for work-related stress;
- raise these issues with the employer as appropriate.
Let us know what you or your branch has planned for this year’s European Health and Safety Week and the National Inspection Day.
Tell us what you’re doing and email us
More about European Health and Safety Week
UNISON guide and material on stress available from the catalogue