LRD guides and handbook October 2016

Stress and mental health at work - a guide for trade union reps

Introduction

Introduction [page 3-5] (1,057 words)

Stress is the number one health and safety concern for trade union members and their reps across all sizes of workplace and in every region and ...
Open access

Chapter 1

1. What is stress and who does it affect? [ch 1: page 6] (311 words)

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) describes work-related stress as “the adverse reaction people have to excessive pressures or other types of ...
Subscribers only

The safety reps’ view [ch 1: pages 6-7] (345 words)

HSE statistics [ch 1: page 7] (258 words)

Age, gender and stress [ch 1: page 8] (75 words)

Workplace size and stress [ch 1: page 8] (145 words)

What does good mental health look like? [ch 1: page 8] (156 words)

Stress in different industrial and service sectors [ch 1: page 9] (163 words)

Local government [ch 1: pages 9-10] (377 words)

Education [ch 1: pages 10-11] (596 words)

The health service [ch 1: page 11] (135 words)

Construction [ch 1: pages 11-12] (221 words)

Media [ch 1: page 12] (177 words)

Finance [ch 1: page 12] (104 words)

The symptoms of stress [ch 1: page 13] (284 words)

Chronic health problems [ch 1: pages 13-14] (615 words)

Collective stress [ch 1: page 14] (169 words)

The causes of stress at work [ch 1: page 16] (494 words)

Performance management systems [ch 1: pages 16-18] (735 words)

The Whitehall study [ch 1: pages 18-19] (231 words)

HSE guidance on the “primary sources” of stress at work [ch 1: page 20] (108 words)

The organisational and societal costs [ch 1: page 20] (288 words)

Chapter 2

2. The impact of austerity, insecurity and uncertainty on mental health [ch 2: pages 21-22] (687 words)

As levels of stress have risen over recent years, so too have mental health problems. When stress is overwhelming it will frequently lead to mental ...
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Calls for preventative action [ch 2: pages 22-23] (329 words)

Presenteeism [ch 2: pages 23-24] (876 words)

Chapter 3

3. The law and work-related stress [ch 3: page 26] (193 words)

This Chapter summarises the legal duties owed by the employer in relation to work-related stress. ...
Subscribers only

Main sources of legal rights [ch 3: page 26] (89 words)

The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 [ch 3: page 26] (65 words)

The Management of Health and  Safety at Work Regulations 1999 [ch 3: page 27] (256 words)

The Working Time Regulations 1998 [ch 3: pages 27-29] (1,020 words)

Safety Representatives and Safety Committees Regulations [ch 3: page 30] (363 words)

The status of the HSE Management Standards for work-related stress [ch 3: pages 30-31] (166 words)

Minimal enforcement of health and safety laws [ch 3: page 31] (248 words)

Using equality laws to combat stress [ch 3: pages 31-33] (732 words)

Sickness absence and disability [ch 3: page 33] (130 words)

Unfair dismissal [ch 3: page 34] (442 words)

Landmark cases in the civil courts for personal (psychiatric) injury [ch 3: pages 35-37] (1,144 words)

Chapter 4

4. HSE guidance [ch 4: page 38] (60 words)

The centrepiece of the Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE’s) efforts to tackle stress over recent years has been its Management Standards, which ...
Subscribers only

Securing management commitment [ch 4: page 38] (198 words)

The HSE Stress Management Standards [ch 4: pages 38-39] (258 words)

Before using the Management Standards [ch 4: page 39] (79 words)

Using a risk assessment approach [ch 4: pages 39-41] (591 words)

What the HSE Stress Management Standards should achieve [ch 4: pages 41-43] (803 words)

TUC on using the HSE Stress Management Standards [ch 4: pages 43-44] (500 words)

Carrying out a workplace survey using the HSE Management Standards [ch 4: pages 44-45] (346 words)

Changing management behaviour [ch 4: pages 45-46] (477 words)

European guidance [ch 4: page 46] (67 words)

Chapter 5

5. Union guidance and action on stress [ch 5: page 47] (64 words)

Unions have long campaigned for work-related stress to be taken seriously by pushing for changes to the law, and better regulation from Europe and a ...
Subscribers only

Resisting a “resilience” approach to stress [ch 5: page 47] (312 words)

Tackling stigma [ch 5: pages 47-48] (354 words)

Making a pledge [ch 5: page 48] (108 words)

Mental health first-aid training for reps [ch 5: page 49] (320 words)

Signposting members to specialist support [ch 5: page 50] (446 words)

Union action in the workplace [ch 5: pages 51-52] (806 words)

Negotiating a stress policy [ch 5: pages 52-53] (481 words)

Model stress policy [ch 5: pages 54-57] (1,034 words)

Core content for a stress policy [ch 5: pages 57-58] (374 words)

The TUC Stress MOT [ch 5: pages 58-59] (464 words)

Union guidance on stress risk assessments [ch 5: page 59] (279 words)

Rehabilitation and support for individuals suffering from stress [ch 5: page 60] (659 words)