Introduction
Work related stress is a serious problem in education. Various surveys show high levels of stress among teachers and other staff from accross the sector. More recently, Teachers TV carried out a poll and found that two out of five teachers had suffered from stress. Our own most recent survey of college managers' working time found that one in ten had been diagnosed by a GP as suffering from work related stress at some point in the last twelve months.
Not surprising then that the Health and Safety Executive has identified education as one of the sectors where work related stress is a particular problem.
What is it?
Work related Stress can be described as the adverse reaction people have to excessive pressure or demands placed upon them in the workplace. People react to pressure and demands in different ways. What might lead to stress in one person, might not in another.
However, the serious nature of stress cannot be understated. It is the second largest cause of occupational ill health in the UK and can cause actual damage to a person’s health.
How should organisations tackle stress?
Work related stress is a health and safety issue. It should be tackled in much the same way as other health and safety issues. This means assessing the risk of hazards that can lead to stress and introducing effective control measures. But this requires a clear commitment from senior management and a willingness to tackle all hazards, including the organisational issues included in the list above.
The HSE has produced some minimum management standards that employers can use to help prevent work related stress. The management standards cover the primary sources of stress at work which are:
Demands – e.g. workloads, working time, work patterns and the working environment
Control – how much or how little say an individual has in the way that they work
Support – the extent of organisational or managerial processes such as encouragement, acknowledgement, communications, training, development and resources
Relationships – the way interpersonal relationships are managed, the extent of conflict or otherwise, bullying and harassment etc.
Role – whether or not people understand their role within the organisation and how it relates to others (the degree of conflict or otherwise)
Change – the extent of organisational change and how it is managed.
These standards should be used to identify potential hazards, assess risk and control the level of exposure to stress hazards. They should form part of the overall approach in the organisation to tackling stress.