What is a Stress Risk Assessment?
To begin with, we need to clarify what a risk assessment is.
Risk assessment is about systematically identifying what might cause harm to employees so you can identify whether you’re doing enough to protect people or if you need to take further steps. The UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) describes a simple risk assessment process that involves 5 steps:
What about Stress Risk Assessment?
Well, essentially the same process is followed except that the hazards are factors already known to contribute to work related stress. HSE describes work related stress like this:
[Stress is] "The adverse reaction people have to excessive pressures or other types of demand placed on them at work... By the term work related stress we mean the process that arises where work demands of various types and combinations exceed the person’s capacity and capability to cope. Think of this as ‘bad work’. It is a significant cause of illness and disease and is known to be linked with high levels of sickness absence, staff turnover and other indicators of organizational underperformance including human error.”
From extensive psychological research, we have a good idea what factors can cause or contribute to work related stress and they are set out in a framework called the Management Standards. HSE’s Management Standards list 6 factors that are known to contribute to stress at work:
Probably the best way to view the Management Standards is as a simple framework for Stress Risk Assessment. These are the factors you should be assessing, and where possible, you should be benchmarking your stress management performance against others organizations to establish whether we are doing enough to prevent harm such as stress related illness.
It’s important to clarify that a Stress Risk Assessment is a process. It’s not simply a survey, which would be just one stage in the process to identify who might be harmed and how. The process also involves taking action to deal with problems, evaluating what has been done and making further changes if necessary.
Risk assessment is about systematically identifying what might cause harm to employees so you can identify whether you’re doing enough to protect people or if you need to take further steps. The UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) describes a simple risk assessment process that involves 5 steps:
- Step 1 – Identify the hazards.
- Step 2 – Decide who might be harmed and how.
- Step 3 – Evaluate the risks and decide on precautions.
- Step 4 – Record your findings and implement them.
- Step 5 – Review your assessment and update if necessary.
What about Stress Risk Assessment?
Well, essentially the same process is followed except that the hazards are factors already known to contribute to work related stress. HSE describes work related stress like this:
[Stress is] "The adverse reaction people have to excessive pressures or other types of demand placed on them at work... By the term work related stress we mean the process that arises where work demands of various types and combinations exceed the person’s capacity and capability to cope. Think of this as ‘bad work’. It is a significant cause of illness and disease and is known to be linked with high levels of sickness absence, staff turnover and other indicators of organizational underperformance including human error.”
From extensive psychological research, we have a good idea what factors can cause or contribute to work related stress and they are set out in a framework called the Management Standards. HSE’s Management Standards list 6 factors that are known to contribute to stress at work:
- Demands (workload, work patterns and the working environment). In practice, we need to find out whether workload pressures are excessive and whether work patterns and the working environment are enabling employees to perform well whilst not putting their health at risk.
- Control (how much say the person has in the way they do their work). In practice, this looks at issues such as flexibility, having some choice or influence about, for example, the way work is done or when to take a break.
- Support (this includes management support - encouragement, sponsorship and resources provided by the organization and line managers; and peer support - the social aspects of support at work from peers and colleagues). In practice, this is about assessing whether employees feel adequately supported by their organization, managers and colleagues.
- Relationships (this includes promoting positive working to avoid conflict and dealing with unacceptable behaviour). In practice, this is about establishing whether stress is being caused by negative and potentially damaging behaviours such as conflict, bullying and harassment.
- Role (whether people understand their role within the organization and whether the organization ensures that they do not have conflicting roles). In practice this is about assessing whether people have clarity about what they are meant to be doing at work. It's also important to assess whether different aspects of people's roles are in conflict as this is a potential cause of stress.
- Change (how organizational change, large or small, is managed and communicated in the organization). In practice, this is about assessing whether poor management and/or communication of change is a significant source of stress.
Probably the best way to view the Management Standards is as a simple framework for Stress Risk Assessment. These are the factors you should be assessing, and where possible, you should be benchmarking your stress management performance against others organizations to establish whether we are doing enough to prevent harm such as stress related illness.
It’s important to clarify that a Stress Risk Assessment is a process. It’s not simply a survey, which would be just one stage in the process to identify who might be harmed and how. The process also involves taking action to deal with problems, evaluating what has been done and making further changes if necessary.
