HSE Targets Workplace Stress

The Heath & Safety Executive has increased its focus on work related stress.  Reports from the HSE and trades unions have long reported on the rise of stress within the workplace, often leading to high rates of employee absence.

The latest figures show that around 10 million working days are lost each year as a result of stress and this is costing businesses dearly. 

The new objectives involve targets for a 20% reduction in ill-health incidence and a 30% reduction in the number of working days lost to sickness absence. Given that work-related stress is the second most commonly reported work-related ill-health problem in Great Britain it is not surprising that tackling work-related stress has become a priority programme for the Health & Safety Executive.

Working long hours 'raises heart attack risk'

April 2011
Working more than 11 hours a day rather than the usual 9am to 5pm markedly increases heart disease risk, say UK experts.

The magnitude of risk goes up by 67% for people who work long hours, they say in Annals of Internal Medicine.

The University College London team base their findings on over 7,000 civil service employees whose health they have been tracking since 1985.

They suggest GPs should now be asking their patients about working hours.

Lead researcher Professor Mika Kivimäki said: "Considering that including a measurement of working hours in a GP interview is so simple and useful, our research presents a strong case that it should become standard practice.

"This new information should help improve decisions regarding medication for heart disease.

"It could also be a wake-up call for people who overwork themselves, especially if they already have other risk factors."

Investing in Wellbeing Pays Off

October 2010
The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) has published its 2010 Absence Management survey.  The survey covers almost 600 organisations from across the UK.

The findings suggest that organisations that invest in employee wellbeing see clear business payback.

The CIPD’s 2010 Absence Management survey shows that employee absence levels remain highest in the public sector at 9.6 days per employee. This figure is markedly higher than in the private sector (6.6 days per employee) and in the manufacturing and production and non–profit sectors, where absence levels are found to be at 6.9 and 8.3 days per employee respectively.

Record Rise in Stress at Work

October 2010
University of Manchester sociologist, Tarani Chandola, has published a report that reveals the global economic downturn has caused levels of work-related stress in the UK to soar.

The report claims that in each of the last two years, work stress levels rose by more than 4%, compared to annual rises between 0.1% and 1% from 1992 to 2009.