Work-related stress caused 12 million lost working days, says HSE

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has released sobering statistics which reveal there were 488,000 cases of work-related stress, depression and anxiety in 2015-16, leading to 11.7 million days off work.

Overall, stress accounted for a staggering 45 per cent of all working days lost and 37 per cent of all work-related ill health cases.

Workloads, time pressure, too much responsibility and lack of support at work are all stress drivers, according to the HSE.

Work-related stress can have significant impact on businesses, with an average of 24 working days lost for each individual case. Business owners should also be aware that there have been a number of successful civil claims brought against employers shown to have failed in their duties to staff in this area.

The HSE can prosecute companies who don’t take reasonable steps to protect their employees. With an increased emphasis on occupational health by the HSE, employers may need to review their procedures for managing stress.

Procedures to manage work-related stress may include looking out for early signs of stress, carrying out stress risk assessments, making reasonable adjustments and helping employees to develop coping strategies.

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