UK. HSE Report into control of stress at work in hospitals
UK
HSE Report into control of stress at work in hospitalsKeywords: Stress in workplace,Stress-related illness, Depression, Anxiety, Occupational health strategy
In May the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) launched a report, Interventions to control stress at work in hospital staff, into the control of stress within UK health services. The research, which focuses on ways to detect and manage stress issues in the health environment, was carried out following the publication of a 1993 report Health at Work in the NHS which identified that stress-related illness accounted for 30-40 per cent of all sickness absence in the NHS, with work-related stress thought to be a significant factor in many cases. Additionally, the Self-reported Work-Related Illness Survey for 1995showed nursing had one of the highest reported rates of stress, depression or anxiety – 2.2 per cent compared to national average of 0.7 per cent.
The study, carried out by Professor Tom Cox, CBE, Institute of Work, Health and Organisations, University of Nottingham, describes a methodology that was applied in three NHS Trusts, involving five different worker groups. Over the coming months, HSE will be working with the trusts involved in the study to review whether the interventions have continued to make an impact on stress levels. HSE will also consider whether its Health Services Advisory Committee should produce guidance based on the results of the study.
Work related stress is the second most commonly reported cause of occupational ill health, with an estimated 6.5 million working days lost annually, at a cost of £370million to industry.
Murray Devine, HSE's Priority Programme Manager for the Health Services said:
"The issue of work related stress in the health services is not trivial,nor is it the inevitable consequences of working life. This study has shown that using the principles of risk management, it is possible to identify likely stressors and take appropriate action. This work provides valuable insight into how good management can address problems, which if left unchecked, can lead to unnecessary levels of stress in employees. I urge all those responsible for managing health and safety in the health service to read and act on this report in order to start to reduce the levels of work related stress in their workforce."
The strategy for tackling work related stress adopts the principles of "Securing Health Together: A long-term occupational health strategy for England, Scotland and Wales". This forms an integral part of "Revitalising Health and Safety", an initiative by the Health and Safety Commission launched on 7 June 2000, by HSC Chairman Bill Callaghan and Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott. This aims to achieve, by the year 2010, the reduction of the incidence of working days lost from work related injury and ill-health by 30 per cent; the reduction of the incidence of people suffering from work related ill-health by 20 per cent; and the reduction of the rate of fatal and major injury accidents by 10 per cent. The Health Service has been identified as a priority area as one of the worst performing sectors on industry, where improvement is most needed to meet the targets. Despite many trusts recognising the problem at individual level, no one had attempted to address the organisational causes of occupational stress and this new study addresses that issue.
HSE's Contract Research Reports are available on the HSE Web site at www.hse.ciov.uk/research/contentlcrr/index.htm
