LRD guides and handbook May 2022

Stress and mental health at work - a guide for trade unions and working people

Introduction

Introduction [page 3] (881 words)

“Work-related stress and poor mental health risk becoming a health and safety crisis for Great Britain’s workplaces,” the regulator the Health ...
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Chapter 1

1. What is stress and who does it affect? [ch 1: page 5] (213 words)

The HSE describes work-related stress as “the adverse reaction people have to excessive pressures or other types of demand placed on them”. ...
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Who does stress affect? [ch 1: page 5] (62 words)

TUC survey findings [ch 1: page 5] (1,102 words)

Stress and workers with protected characteristics [ch 1: page 8] (482 words)

What causes work-related stress? [ch 1: page 9] (556 words)

What are the symptoms of stress? [ch 1: page 10] (108 words)

What does a stressed workplace look like? [ch 1: page 11] (243 words)

What does a mentally healthy workplace look like? [ch 1: page 11] (250 words)

The impact of stress on workers [ch 1: page 12] (359 words)

Stress can kill [ch 1: page 13] (1,163 words)

The costs of poor mental health for organisations and society — the business case for action [ch 1: page 16] (638 words)

Chapter 2

2. The impact of the Covid pandemic on stress and mental health [ch 2: page 18] (271 words)

This chapter summarises some of the recent trade union and other research demonstrating the impact of Covid on work-related stress and mental ill ...
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Evidence of the impact of Covid on stress and mental health at work [ch 2: page 18] (1,142 words)

Building back better mental health [ch 2: page 21] (913 words)

Chapter 3

3. Work-related stress and the law [ch 3: page 24] (142 words)

This chapter summarises the legal duties owed by the employer in relation to work-related stress. ...
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Main sources of legal rights [ch 3: page 25] (85 words)

Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 [ch 3: page 25] (337 words)

Working Time Regulations 1998 [ch 3: page 26] (931 words)

Safety Representatives and Safety Committees Regulations [ch 3: page 28] (605 words)

The HSE Management Standards [ch 3: page 30] (3,163 words)

The UK lags behind Europe on protection against work-related stress risks [ch 3: page 37] (165 words)

Chapter 4

4. Using the HSE Management Standards [ch 4: page 38] (160 words)

The centrepiece of the HSE’s efforts to tackle stress is its Management Standards, which have been endorsed by the TUC and unions. ...
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The HSE Management Standards — a summary [ch 4: page 38] (575 words)

The role of safety reps [ch 4: page 40] (142 words)

What the HSE Stress Management Standards should achieve [ch 4: page 40] (635 words)

HSE Stress Management Standards resources [ch 4: page 43] (433 words)

Stress indicator and analysis tools [ch 4: page 44] (967 words)

Detecting signs of stress [ch 4: page 46] (161 words)

Chapter 5

5. Action to tackle work-related stress [ch 5: page 47] (675 words)

A key union message is that stress is an organisational not an individual problem. The NEU repeatedly emphasises in its guidance that a collective ...
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Resisting “resilience” [ch 5: page 48] (202 words)

Negotiating a stress policy [ch 5: page 49] (150 words)

A trade union stress and mental health checklist [ch 5: page 49] (259 words)

Union action to tackle workloads [ch 5: page 50] (1,884 words)

Chapter 6

6. Mental health support [ch 6: page 56] (172 words)

The WHO defines good mental health as: “A state of wellbeing in which every individual realises his or her own potential, can cope with the normal ...
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Guidance for employers [ch 6: page 56] (774 words)

Action to improve mental health support [ch 6: page 58] (838 words)

Mental health awareness training [ch 6: page 61] (1,184 words)

Further information

Further help and information (143 words)

Acas helpline; tel: 0300 123 1100; text relay service: 18001 0300 123 1100; https://www.acas.org.uk ...
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