Teaching union’s reps and HSE meet over stress

This month, representatives of the ATL teachers’ and lecturers’ union and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) will meet in an exploratory meeting to see how the union can help the HSE implement the stress management standards in further education (FE) colleges.

Norman Crowther, ATL’s national officer for post-16 education, told Workplace Report: “I have seen the growth in stress in the sector as higher demands are made upon staff and managers, as well as college leaders. But we need to get our priorities right by looking after front line staff and that is something that colleges can help with.”

He believes that identifying stressors, analysing their possible causes and putting in place policies to deal with these will raise morale among college staff as well as reduce sick leave, improve performance and make the FE sector a better place to work in.