Last week was Stress Awareness Week 2024. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) used the occasion to remind employers of their need to carry out their legal duty to prevent work-related stress and support good mental health at work.
According to HSE figures, 17.1 million working days were lost to work-related stress in 2022/23. An average employee suffering from work-related stress, depression or anxiety takes an average of 19.6 days off work a year, almost the equivalent of a working month.
Clearly, it is in an employer’s interest to do what it can to reduce and minimise stress in the workplace.
Employers have a legal duty to:
- Carry out risk assessments for stress and then act on them.
- Take steps to prevent work-related stress.
- Write down the risk assessment if there are five or more employees. (It is still recommended to write it down if you have less employees.)
The HSE provides free online learning, a risk assessment template and a ‘talking toolkit’ that can help structure your conversations with staff.
