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. 

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.

The report states that severe stress could trigger depression, anxiety, workplace injuries and suicide, and lead to a greater risk of heart disease.

Professor Chandola compiled existing evidence from peer-reviewed journals and major UK surveys to obtain a comprehensive view of work-related stress.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has published research showing that teaching, nursing, and management and professional occupations report the highest levels of work-related stress.

The scale of occupational stress: A further analysis of the impact of demographic factors and type of job is a report based on research carried out by Professor Andy Smith and his team at the University of Bristol.

A previous report based on the same study stated that upto 1 in 5 of British workers reported being very or extremely stressed by their work. The present report outlines further analysis which breaks the data down into categories such as occupation, full-time or part-time hours, social class, ethnicity and sex.

It is generally accepted that modem living can be very stressful. It is important to understand the causes of stress, to differentiate between good and bad stress, and how massage contributes to its management.

Stress

Not all Stress is harmful. Many people do their best work when stressed. The need to achieve and the drive to obtain success can in themselves be helpful rather than harmful factors and may contribute to a harmonious lifestyle. Much outstanding work in the fields of science, arts and business has been a attained under conditions of stress. Therefore it is necessary to look at stress, its causes and the factors which can make it harmful.