The
recent Court of Appeal recommendations say that "Any employer
who offers a confidential counselling advice service with access
to treatment is unlikely to be found in breach of duty". Ashling
has for many years had a pro-active positive approach to handling
stress-related issues in the workplace in line with this thinking.
HSE
have published two booklets:
a) Work Stress
a short guide on good practice
b) Tackling work-related stress -A managers guide to improving and
maintaining employee health and well-being
Both are
available from HSE Books on Tel. 01787 881165
In line with
Ashling’s philosophy stress prevention is the cornerstone
of a well-designed stress management approach. Each individual has
a different approach and potential susceptibility to "stress".
The presentation covers the definition of stress.
HSE defines
stress as "the adverse reaction people have to excessive pressure.
It isn’t a disease. But if stress is intense and goes on for
some time, it can lead to mental and physical ill health (e.g. depression,
nervous breakdown, heart disease)"
This cartoon
based presentation compliments out presentation "Understanding
Stress" . Stress in the workplace is an increasing cause
for concern. The Court of Appeal in February 2002 has provided guidelines
for the courts in dealing with civil claims. Statutory legislation
requires employers to conduct "suitable and sufficient"
risk assessments in the workplace and record these in written form
where they have 5 or more employees. This includes risks to health,
both physical and mental.
The presentation
is designed to give managers, employees and representatives an understanding
of the concept of risk assessment in this expanding and developing
field.
Dr.O’Sullivan
explains mental ill health issues such as anxiety and depression.
He discusses the causes, effects and treatment in the workplace
and elsewhere. He describes many of the physical and behavioural
effects and illustrated these with cartooned examples from his extensive
experience in this field.
A pragmatic
approach to recognising stress related issues early, investigation
the possible causes and taking appropriate steps to reduce these
where practicable are discussed. Areas covered include, culture
in the workplace, demands of the job, control, relationships (including
bullying and harassment), change, role, support, etc.
