HSE standards in TUC’s stress guidance

Two-thirds of respondents to the TUC 2014 survey of union health and safety reps identified stress as one of the top five hazards in their workplace and a third (32%) said it was the top hazard.

The TUC believes that, in the absence of specific legislation and effective legislation to tackle work-related stress, the HSE’s Stress Management Standards are the most effective way of dealing with work-related stress.

The TUC has, therefore, incorporated the management standards into its own updated guidance.

Unions play a major part in ensuring that an employer takes their responsibilities to tackle work-related stress seriously, the TUC says. Dealing with stress at work highlights the fact that health and safety is not separate to a union’s industrial activity.

The TUC’s guide aims to help union safety reps encourage their employer to work with them to implement the HSE standards on managing stress at work.

The guide:

• gives a background to the problem of stress;

• details the HSE Management Standards;

• says what you and your employer must do;

• explains the process; and

• provides links to where safety reps can get additional information.

www.tuc.org.uk/sites/default/files/Stress%20Guidance%20July%202014%20pdf_0.pdf

www.tuc.org.uk/sites/default/files/Safety_Representatives_Survey_2014.pdf