Safety reps cite stress as the big workplace issue

Stress is the most pressing concern at work for 61% of union safety reps, a TUC survey has found, while poor enforcement of health and safety law is now a common concern.

Three quarters (76%) of respondents to Focus on health and safety, the sixth biennial safety reps' survey carried out by the Labour Research Department for the TUC, said that excessive workloads were to blame for stress. Other commonly cited stressors included cuts in staffing levels (57%), rapid change (53%), long working hours (34%) and bullying (33%). The TUC said employers should be using the Health and Safety Executive's (HSE) stress management standards (see Workplace Report, March 2006).

The survey also revealed the dismal levels of enforcement of health and safety law in most workplaces. Safety reps reported that the number of visits by HSE inspectors was falling, and almost half (46%) said their workplace had never been visited by an inspector.

This trend is all the more worrying because intervention by HSE inspectors often leads to real improvements in safety practice. The survey found that, when issued with a legal enforcement notice, two-fifths of employers not only complied but also acted to make other areas of their workplace safer.

Reps also reported cases of employers improving safety simply because they had heard about a notice or prosecution issued against another employer.

Focus on health and safety can be ordered from the TUC, price £15. Call 020 7467 1294 for details.