No investigation despite 'mental health crisis' at job centre

A former worker at a job centre in Oxford has told the Disability News Service the HSE refused to launch an investigation into stress after he raised serious concerns about several work coaches experiencing work-related “mental health breakdowns”. The HSE has said it will consider investigating where several employees are experiencing work-related stress. After looking into the matters raised, it felt they did not meet its criteria to investigate further, DSN reported.

PCS public and commercial services union general secretary Mark Serwotka told Workplace Report: "In a recent consultation with DWP members on their experiences of understaffing, members told us about the dangerous levels of stress placed on them by heavy workloads."

He added: “It is beyond disgraceful that many DWP members, particularly those working in jobcentres and universal credit service centres, are becoming too ill to work because of chronic understaffing.”