Employers' responsibilities

Employers' responsibilities

Employers should make sure that there is a healthy culture in the workplace.

• communication, support and respect
• stress and health issues taken seriously
• staff consulted and supported
• problems recognised and solved promptly
• long hours not the norm.

Staff should be encouraged to be effective, creative, decisive, alert and stimulated. They should have some influence over their work, be trusted and encouraged to put forward ideas.

Potential will not be encouraged by excessive monitoring, lack of interest in their concerns and problems or by making excessive and unreasonable demands on them and their time.

Employers' duties

NHS organisations have to meet Health and Safety Executive targets for reducing stress in the workplace.

All NHS organisations must develop and implement strategies to tackle work-related stress. The Health and Safety Executive can take action against employers who fail to do this.

Employers must identify any hazards and assess all the risks to the health and safety of employees, and record the findings. Stress is regarded as a work hazard. They have to regularly review and modify the risk assessment.

The employer must pay particular attention where the risk assessment highlights a risk of stress to help spot stress if it does occur.

Employers should apply the following principles to preventative and protective measures:

• completely avoid the risk
• combat risks at source
• wherever possible, adapt work to the individual
• implement improved working methods and technological changes
• incorporate risk prevention strategies
• give priority to measures that protect the whole workplace.

As well as specific policies to tackle stress, other organisational policies and practices play a part in preventing stress.

Information

Employers should keep you well informed about all aspects of the organisation. You will value their time at work and be encouraged to identify more with the organisation if open communication is expected and delivered and you can see that the organisation deals with grievances and complaints in a fair and open way.