Stress in the workplace: checklists
Denise Tomlinson of Lewis Silkin provides employer checklists aimed at preventing, spotting and dealing with workplace stress.
Preventing stress
It is naturally much better for all concerned if excessive levels of workplace stress can be prevented at the outset. A number of simple strategies can be adopted to promote a healthy working environment.
Carry out regular risk assessments:
- Look out for pressures that could cause high level and/or ongoing stress (eg employees consistently working long hours on a difficult project).
- Identify members of staff who might be affected by such pressures and therefore suffer ill health (eg those working on the project team).
- Consider what you are doing to prevent any harm to staff and whether it is enough (eg have you deployed sufficient and/or the appropriate team members and resources to the project?).
- If necessary take reasonable steps to address pressures (eg deploying more people/resources to the project team or recruiting additional staff).
- Review the risk assessment regularly (eg if the project is to last two years, consider quarterly reviews).
Demonstrate that you take stress seriously and be supportive towards staff who admit that they are feeling pressured.
Ensure that there is proper communication in the workplace so that employees can come forward if they feel under pressure.
Ensure that employees have the necessary training and skills to do their job.
Ensure that employees have the resources that they need.
Demonstrate that bullying, harassment and discrimination are not tolerated in the workplace (eg by having comprehensive policies in place and ensuring that management and staff are trained in dealing with such issues).
Ensure that relevant managers are trained to identify and deal with issues of workplace stress.
Consider providing access to a confidential counsellor or help line for employees to raise issues of stress.
Ensure that managers liaise with staff regularly to check that individuals can cope with their workload and the other demands of their job.
Spotting stress
Inevitably there will be some workers who, despite your best efforts, suffer from workplace stress. Part of good management practice is monitoring and communicating with staff so that warning signs are picked up early on.
The Health and Safety Executive's definition of stress is ‛the adverse reaction people have to excessive pressure or other types of demands placed on them'. Although it manifests itself in different ways in different people, here are some signs to watch out for.
Has there been a noticeable change in the employee's behaviour or mood?
Have the employee's occasions of absence increased markedly?
Has the employee become (uncharacteristically) indecisive?
Have the employee's relationships with colleagues deteriorated?
Has the employee's performance reduced or deteriorated?
Is the employee working longer hours but achieving less?
Has the employee complained about his or her health (eg a cold that cannot be shaken off or persistent or frequent headaches)?
Has the employee become irritable or noticeably tense?
Is the employee smoking or drinking more than usual?
Are there signs of any other substance abuse?
Dealing with a stressed employee
Once an employee has been diagnosed as suffering from excessive levels of stress at work, make use of any written risk assessment or other documentation relating to the cause(s) of stress and take into account any efforts that have already been made to prevent or alleviate it. Then consider what further steps might be taken. These could include:
changing reporting structures;
providing additional help or further training and supervision;
with his or her consent, transferring the employee to a different post or duties;
improving communication;
providing more or regular performance feedback;
giving access to some form of counselling.
When an employee goes off sick with stress the following steps are recommended:
Maintain friendly contact with the employee from an early stage.
Find out as much as possible about the nature of the employee's illness, the possible cause, what the employee believes can and should be done about it and when he or she will be able to return (respecting confidentiality where necessary).
Where the nature, extent or cause of illness complained of is not clear, approach the employee as soon as possible for consent to request a medical report from his or her GP.
If the employee's GP cannot tell you when the employee will be able to return to work, try to obtain an opinion from a medical adviser as to the severity of the employee's condition, the likely cause (if appropriate) and when the employee may be thought fit to return to work, whether to the same job or a different job. Take medical advice on the suitability of any adjustments to the employee's job.
If and when the employee returns to work, monitor his or her progress regularly.
Summary
Workplace stress can be tricky to deal with, but by taking some of the steps outlined above and keeping an eye out for signs of stress in staff, you should be able to spot it at an early stage and act to avoid it becoming a problem.
The next topic of the week article will be published on 5 July and will be the first in a series of four looking at atypical workers.
Denise Tomlinson is a member of the employment team at Lewis Silkin (Denise.Tomlinson@lewissilkin.com)
Further information on Lewis Silkin can be accessed at www.lewissilkin.com
