HSE Management Standards and Stress Risk Assessment

Hertfordshire County Councilwww.hertsdirect.org

What is Stress?

The HSE define stress as:

‘ the adverse reaction people have to excessive pressure or other types of demand placed upon them’

Pressure:

‘which can give a sense of achievement, motivate and drive us’

National Picture

•442 000 individuals experiencing work-related stress at a level that was making them ill

•13.6% of working individuals thought their job was very or extremely stressful.

•Self-reported work-related stress, depression or anxiety accounted for an estimated 13.5 million lost working days in Britain in 2007/08.

Stress in Education

• Individuals• Workforce• Management• School

Why deal with Stress? - ImpactsWhy deal with Stress? - Impacts

Why deal with Stress? - To benefit your school

As well as reducing sickness absence tackling stress can have a positive effect :

•Overall health and wellbeing•Performance •Retention and morale •Continuity in the classroom•Financial benefits•Image and reputation

‘..teachers, their well being and the support they receive undoubtedly impacts upon pupil and student wellbeing, student attainment and overall school performance’

Patrick NashChief Executive Teacher Support network

Why deal with Stress? - To comply with the law

Employer:

Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 - a duty for their employees health, safety and welfare in relation to their employment duties

Management of Health & Safety Regulations 1999 - a duty to undertake Risk Assessments and introduce appropriate measures to reduce that risk

HSE Management Standards for Work Related Stress

The Management Standards are designed to:

• Help simplify risk assessments for stress• Encourage employers, employees to work in

partnership to address work related stress• Provide a benchmark organisations can use to

gauge performance

The Management Standards

Identify problem areas existing data HSE tool / other surveys

Linking problems to solutions Real people –Real solutions

Developing an Action plan

Monitoring your action planEvaluate effectiveness

Step 1 Identify hazards

Step 2 Who may be harmed andhow

Step 3Evaluate Risks

Step 4Develop Action plan

Step 5Monitor and review

Overview - 5 steps to risk assessment

Step 1- Identifying the hazards

The HSE Management Standard areas are:

* Demands* Control* Support - managerial and peer* Relationships* Role* Change

www.thegrid.org.uk/info/healthandsafety/stress.shtml

www.hse.gov.uk/stress/standards/index.htm

Demands

Standard is that Employees indicate they are able to cope with the demands of their jobs; andSystems are in place locally to respond to individual concerns

•Level and nature of workload •Work patterns & environment •Priority setting and time pressures•Excessive hours •Repetitive work•Unrealistic deadlines•Ofsted inspections

Step 2- HSE Stress SurveyPsychosocial questionnaire for staff

I have unrealistic time pressures22

I have to work very fast20

I am pressured to work long hours18

I am unable to take sufficient breaks16

I have to neglect some tasks because Ihave too much to do

12

I have to work very intensively9

I have unachievable deadlines6

Different groups at work demand things from me that are hard to combine

3Demands

HSE Analysis Tool

2.96Overall

3.00I have unrealistic timepressures

22

2.43I have to work very fast20

3.57I am pressured to work longhours

18

3.14I am unable to take sufficientbreaks

16

3.00I have to neglect some tasksbecause I have too much todo

12

2.29I have to work very intensively

9

3.29I have unachievabledeadlines

6

3.00Different groups at workdemand things from me thatare hard to combine

3

Demands

AverageQuestion

HSE Indicator Tool Summary of Results

Urgent action needed Represents those below the 20th percentile†

4.003.332.52Change

5.004.603.97Role

Clear need for improvement Represents those likely to be below average but not below the 20th percentile

4.754.754.43Relationships

4.754.253.93Peer Support

4.604.003.50Managers' Support

Good, but need for improvementRepresents those better than average but not yet at, above or close to the 80th percentile†4.334.003.83Control

4.253.382.96Demands

Doing very well - need to maintain performanceRepresents those at, above or close to the 80th percentile†

KeyYour results

Suggested Interim target

Suggested Longer term

target

Steps 3 / 4- Evaluate the risk and take action

Are the areas identified as potential stressors correct?

Involve staff to investigate the findings of the questionnaire

“Real People Real Solutions”

Create Action Plan

Provide Feedback

Demands : Are you doing enough?

• Monitoring team workload

• Allocated sufficient resources

• Prioritising deadlines

• Provided sufficient training

• Communication

• Working proactively

• Work environment

Step 5- Monitor and Review

Monitor against your action plan to ensure the agreed actions are taking place.

Evaluate the effectiveness of the solutions you implement. Consider other relevant data

Follow-up surveys

Long term commitment continuously working with employees to identify and address issues.

Actions to meet duty of care

•Obtain commitment

•Complete risk assessment

•Involve staff in identifying solutions

•Create an Action plan

•Review

Alternative Approaches

“The national well being programme has been developed specifically for schools and is broadly equivalent to the HSE management standards.

Participation in the well-being programme will enable schools to demonstrate they have met their duty of care under H&S legislation”

(HSE)

Doing nothing is not an option

There is no ‘quick fix’ solution

Actions need to be proactive having a stress policy is not enough.

The HSE are tackling stress in education as a priority.

Positive results will benefit both individuals and the school.

Summary

‘There cannot be a stressful crisis next week. My schedule is already full.’

Henry Kissinger