What is stress in the workplace?

It is not uncommon for employers and employees alike to be under pressure at work. These sources of pressure may come from the need to achieve goals according to tight deadlines or to reach sales targets. Some pressure may be beneficial in order to reach these goals but only up to a certain point. If a person’s stress levels become too high then performance can begin to decrease. 

These situations where pressure is continuous or when your employees are under more pressure than usual may generate work-related stress. What causes work-related stress will likely differ from person to person. Certain factors such as age, experience or skills may have an impact on the amount of pressure an employee is able to take on.

Some causes of stress in the workplace

Being able to define stress and scrutinise its triggers is a useful first step to managing it. Below are some of the causes of stress in the workplace to look out for:

• Employees finding that the responsibilities of their role are unclear
• Changes in the workplace that are poorly communicated or organised
• Lack of effective management support
• Not providing employees with sufficient training
• Lack of opportunities for career progression

What happens when stress escalates

Your ability to identify where these stress risks might occur in an employee’s workflow can help prevent stress from escalating into issues. These issues can include:

• Burnout
• Missed deadlines
• An increase in sick days
• Lack of communication within teams
• Reduced productivity

Continue reading to discover what a workplace stress risk assessment is, as well as how you can use it to identify potential stress risks in your workplace. 

What is a workplace stress risk assessment?

Like other forms of risk assessment, a workplace stress risk assessment involves identifying potential aspects of your workplace that could cause harm to your employees. It also enables you to identify the likelihood of risks and what consequences they could have.

According to the Health and Safety Work Act 1974, all employers have a ‘duty of care’ to protect their staff from stress risks in the workplace. According to the UK’s Health and Safety Executive and similarly to other risk assessments, employers are required by law to conduct workplace stress risk assessments. If a business employs more than five people, then you will need to put together paperwork outlining the stress risks you have identified as well as the steps you are taking to reduce them.

Your risk assessment could involve reviewing the effectiveness of existing workplace policies that cover workplace bullying, harassment and discrimination. It can also involve looking at your first aid needs assessment and how effectively it encompasses the physical and mental health requirements of your staff. With AI taking a more prominent place in the workplace, it is worth also considering its effects.

The stages of a workplace stress risk assessment

Creating a workplace stress risk assessment usually involves working with your employees’ and gathering feedback in order to:

• Identify stress risks
• Pinpoint who is most at risk and why
• Evaluate risks due to stress
• Implement a stress risk action plan
• Review the plan on a regular basis and update it if necessary

Managers are usually responsible for conducting risk assessments of their entire teams. However, if one employee in particular reports work-related stress, then they can conduct an individual risk assessment.

1. Identify stress risks

According to the HSE, it’s essential for employers to identify risk factors that relate to mental wellbeing at work. This should be done before conducting an assessment. These risk factors are:

• Demands: this can include aspects of employee workflows such as workload, working environment and schedule.
• Control: how much influence an employee or a team has over the way they manage their responsibilities.
• Support: resources, training and team support that employees have in meeting their responsibilities and work objectives.
• Relationships: determining whether workplace relationships are positive or negative. It also covers bullying and harassment.
• Role: how well employees are able to understand their role in your business and whether there are any possible conflicts or overlaps with other roles in the organisation.
• Change: considering how well change is both managed and communicated by management of all levels in the business.

2. Pinpoint who is at risk and why

Once the possible stress risk factors have been identified, businesses then look at who is particularly vulnerable to these risks. While employers could speak to employees individually in order to help identify who might be most at risk, they can also make use of data such as sick leave rates, staff turnover, exit interview reports, surveys and who has been referred to occupational health and why. 

For instance, a staff member who has started working from home may find that their workload level has increased because of a lack of communication with the in-office team about their responsibilities. Another example could be a junior customer service worker who is increasingly expected to staff a till with no supervision, when they do not have the skills or experience to do this.

3. Evaluate stress risks

Once you have identified potential stress risks in the workplace and who might be affected, you will need to be able to evaluate them. Consider using the HSE Management Standards’ 35 questions in order to gather information from employees. You could also use the HSE’s Stress Indicator Tool, which is an online survey that enables you to gather data anonymously from employees in order to inform your evaluation process. Finally, record the findings that you make and proceed with the creation of an action plan.

4. Implement a stress risk action plan

Once you have evaluated the stress risks you have identified in the workplace you can look at creating an action plan. This plan can be used to reduce or remove the risks. An action plan usually involves identifying what changes you may need to make. This typically involves:

• Recording areas for improvement
• Proposing corrective measures
• Identifying who is responsible for implementing those measures
• Determining when the action plan is set to be put in place
• Understanding how staff will receive instructions on the corrective measures
• Analysing whether the correction measures have been completed

5. Review the plan on a regular basis and update it if necessary

Once you have put your action plan in place consider coming back to the risk area and your corrective measures every 12 months. It is essential to follow up and to understand if the measures have been effective. Evaluate your results and make the necessary tweaks.

With a workplace stress risk assessment plan employers can help to eliminate or reduce some common stress risks in their workplace. By learning how to reduce stress risks employers can contribute to protecting employees against stress turning into long-term health concerns such as anxiety, depression, burnout and other stress-related health conditions. Following the UK government’s advice on how to conduct a workplace stress risk assessment helps businesses to remain compliant with UK laws on health and safety.