Last week was Mental Health Awareness Week, and to mark the occasion, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) launched a free online learning module to help employers better understand and manage work-related stress in their teams.
The new resource is part of HSE’s Working Minds campaign, which aims to help businesses take practical steps to improve workplace mental health and meet their legal obligations.
Why does this matter to your business?
According to HSE, around half of all work-related ill health is down to stress, depression or anxiety. That’s a significant figure, and one that many business owners are likely to recognise - whether it’s seen in staff absence, reduced productivity, or just a general drop in morale.
Importantly, managing stress at work isn’t just good for your people - it’s also something the law expects employers to take seriously. As Kayleigh Roberts from HSE puts it: "Preventing work-related stress isn’t just the right thing to do for your workers - it’s also a legal requirement".
The new module offers guidance in conducting effective risk assessments, identifying the root causes of work-related stress and implementing solutions.
Six key areas to watch
The HSE has identified six main areas that can cause stress at work if they’re not managed well: demands, control, support, relationships, role, and change.
A simple framework: The 5Rs
The module also builds on the Working Minds campaign’s 5Rs, a straightforward approach to managing stress:
-
Reach out and have conversations
-
Recognise the signs and causes of stress
-
Respond to risks by agreeing on action points
-
Reflect on the actions taken
-
Make it Routine to check in regularly
Next steps
If you’re an employer, especially in a small business where everyone wears multiple hats, this is a helpful, free tool that can make a real difference to how you support your team.
To access the online learning module, you can register here.
A new YouGov survey commissioned by Acas shows that almost one in three employers are finding that stress, anxiety, depression or other mental health problems are a reason that staff give for sickness absence.
The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) offer a free Early Warning service to all UK organisations.