UNISON member gets record stress award

Public services union, UNISON, has secured a record £203,000 plus payout for stress in an out-of-court settlement from Worcester County Council. Randy Ingram, a former warden at travellers sites in Worcester, retired from his job when he was only 39 after suffering stress-related ill health.

UNISON says that the county council failed to manage the warden service properly after responsibility for running the sites was transferred to it from the district councils. The wardens felt that the county council failed to support them, leading to a loss of authority on the sites and leaving them unable to do their jobs properly.

As a result, Ingram became the subject of violent and abusive behaviour and experienced a feeling of isolation and powerlessness, which lead to his illness. After Ingram had retired, an internal inquiry was carried out, which was critical of the way the sites were managed.

Public and commercial services union PCS found that stress and overwork was the top health and safety concern in a survey of 500 of its members. Altogether 85% of respondents cited stress as their main problem. The causes were staffing levels (79%), workloads (69%), change (43%) and bullying and harassment (30%).