According to Labour Force statistics, 828,000 people in the UK; which equates to more than half of those suffering from work related illnesses, are due to work related stress, anxiety or depression.  Based on these figures, it is estimated that more than 15,000 people in Northern Ireland are recorded to be suffering from work related stress, anxiety or depression each year.  

The cost of work related ill-health in the UK is estimated to be in the region of £10.6 billion each year, so based on the fact that more than half the people suffering from a work related illness is due to stress, anxiety or depression, it is costing the UK, more than £5.3 billion each year.  And in Northern Ireland alone, workplace ill-health is estimated to be costing the Northern Ireland economy over £238 million per year.  So do the maths! How much is work related stress costing your business each year?  Do you agree that there is ‘a lot in it for you’ to address this much misunderstood workplace hazard?

So, what are the advantages of managing work related stress in your business? These include:

Meeting your legal responsibilities

Under the Health and Safety at Work (NI) Order 1978 (Health and Safety at Work Act 1978 in the rest of UK), to take reasonable care of the health, safety and welfare at work for all of your employees so far as is reasonably practicable.  Failure to meet your legal duty with regards to managing work related stress may result in prosecution and potential fines.  The worst case scenario of someone suffering from severe mental health issues due to work related stress could be suicide.  I suggest that should that catastrophic event happen and be proven, beyond reasonable doubt to be due to negligence, the organisation might be at risk of being charged with Corporate Manslaughter.  The Corporate Manslaughter Act 2007 was brought in to ensure ‘effective laws were put in place to prosecute organisations where they have paid scant regard to the proper management of health and safety with fatal results.’ Up to now this scenario has not been played out in Criminal Court, but who knows what will happen in the future.

Reducing the risk of an employee instigating and Civil Law case for compensation

An employer has a legal duty to assess reasonably foreseeable risks and to eliminate or reduce those risks so far as is reasonably practicable. This includes the risks to mental and physical health.  Although employees should be able to withstand normal job pressures if they have the competence, training and safe systems of work. However for example; should their workload be unrealistically high,  or should they have little or no control over how they carry out their tasks and work in an environment where there is scant support, then there is is a definite increased risk of harmful stress. Should an employee be harmed from that stress, then they might seek the legal route to obtaining considerable compensation.  These Civil cases are on the increase and many are successful.

Retaining well trained and competent workforce 

Organisations who do not put in place controls to reduce the risk of work related physical and mental ill-health tend to have a low level of employee retention.  This has the potential to lead to an inexperienced and less competent workforce or very high training costs for continual training of new starts.  High turnover of staff also can lead to low morale of the remaining workforce through having a higher workload and constant change of their workmates. And yes, this could lead to further distress for existing workers.

Reducing absenteeism and presenteeism

With an estimated 15,000 people in Northern Ireland off work due to stress, anxiety or depression, it is fair to say that this has caused considerable absenteeism for many Northern Ireland businesses.  This results in significant financial implications due to providing sick pay, paying overtime to others due to work pressures, and perhaps employing the services of temporary staff to cover the short fall. All of this has the potential to have a detrimental effect on productivity and morale in the workplace.  This in turn may lead to more staff off work due to work-related stress.  

Presenteeism is a significant problem in the workplace also.  This is where people, who feel under power, come to work anyway and are less productive and more likely to have work related accidents and incidents.  In many cases their lack of enthusiasm has an effect on their work team resulting in collective non-production.  This loses companies in the UK £billions each year.

In a recent Mental Health and Employers Report from Deloitte, it is estimated that the total annual cost of poor mental health to employers has increased by 25% since 2019 and is now totalling between £53-56 billion in 2020-2021.  This is the equivalent to 2.6% of the UK's GDP.  The moral implications of harming mental health at work does not seem to be a good enough motivation to make the changes required to address this problem, however, these latest figures should make the buisiness case crystal clear. What's in it for you financially to put in place controls to reduce the risks your organisation pose to mental health and work?

Improving the organisations’ reputation

In this very competitive world, there is much competition for contracts, funding and customer loyalty and the services we provide.  An organisation that can provide evidence for their excellent health and safety performance due to the management system they have in place to reduce the risk of mental and physical ill-health of their workforce will have the potential to:

• Be an employer of choice with such a reputation that people aspire to working with and for them.
• Show corporate sustainability through the three pillars; Social, Economic and Environmental.
• Reduce insurance premiums
• Reap the benefits of having an organisation with a positive health and safety culture.
• Provide the competitive edge and be an organisation that other businesses want to be associated with.

So, there is a ‘lot in it’ for organisations to motivate them to take work related stress seriously.  And you do not need to do it alone. The Management Standards Guidance from HSE is a step by step approach to managing stress at work.  

• Secure management commitment – if senior managers are on board from the beginning, then things really start to happen.
• Find out how you are doing now – Have your workforce complete the anonymous Management Standards Indicator tool which will show where the management of work-related stress is weak and where it is strong.  
• Review your health and safety policy with regards to management of work related stress- this is your statement of intent. (how do you intend to keep people safe so far as is reasonably practicable)
• Make a plan of how you will manage; demands, control, support, relationships, role and change (Management Standards)
• Assign responsibilities – those with responsibilities must be trained to understand their role, their accountabilities and how they carry out their managerial duties.
• Involve the whole workforce – this is probably the most important thing in the process.  Those people whose opinions and competencies are taken into account and they have some control over how they do their jobs safely and productively will greatly improve your performance.
• And lastly REVIEW – measure performance. Periodically see what is going well, what can be improved and where you can learn from experience.  This can be achieved by another round of anonymous management standards questionnaires.

A good health and safety management system is driven by continual improvement.  You are already doing all of this with other hazards prevalent in your workplace, understanding and managing work related stress is the next step.

What’s in it for you?  A loyal, physically and mentally health workforce who come to work each day and deliver the highest quality of work and productivity.    

Now you've read this blog, why not think of things from another perspective?

• An Employee/Individual's Perspective: CLICK HERE TO READ
• The Government's Perspective: CLICK HERE TO READ