A leading West Midlands employment lawyer at Irwin Mitchell has
highlighted the importance of effective stress management in the
workplace as many businesses could face legal claims for injuries
by not protecting their staff from stress.
The warning comes from Fergal Dowling, Partner in the Employment
team at Irwin Mitchell's Birmingham office as National Stress
Awareness day approaches (03 November). Although a legal claim for
damages from staff is the most likely outcome, in the worst case
scenario firms could face prosecution by the Health and Safety
Executive (HSE).
The latest HSE statistics show that in 2008/09 in the West
Midlands 1430 per 100,000 people were affected by stress,
depression or anxiety caused or made worse by work, an increase on
the previous year.
Mr Dowling said: "With spending reviews, tighter budgets and in
some cases job losses many people are personally doing more work
than ever before.
"Stress levels are increasing, as employees come under pressure
not just in their own roles but are also handling former
colleague's workloads who may have been made redundant and not
replaced.
"Many employers are also struggling with pressure to secure new
orders to keep their businesses afloat as well as reduce costs and
headcount - the latter being a particularly stressful experience
for all parties.
"Stress Management has never been more relevant for businesses
especially as according to recent research stress levels have
doubled in four years. Employers have a duty of care towards their
employees and if they fail to handle stress levels it could lead to
them facing legal claims for damages, or in the worst cases,
prosecution by the HSE."
The HSE also reports that over 11 million working days were lost
to stress in Britain last year. With an estimated 415,000
individuals believing they were experiencing work-related stress at
a level that was making them ill.
Dowling concluded: "The important thing for businesses is that
the support processes for managing stress are monitored and
maintained so that they continue to be effective and help create a
healthy and happy working environment."