IOSH calls for plans to tackle workplace stress
June 18, 2007
The Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) has called for a major government and employer initiative to help tackle workplace stress.
It follows the publication of a new report, by the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development, which concluded that people suffering from depression took an average of 30 days per year off, while stress victims were away for 21 days.
Commenting on the study, Lisa Fowlie, President of IOSH, said that too many employers still did not understand the benefits they could gain from preventing workplace stress, and the price that their staff pay.
IOSH says that employers can reduce pressure at work relatively easily, with key actions including:
- ensuring staff have a sympathetic ear
- allowing more flexible working hours
- dopting family-friendly policies.
In turn, organisations which tackle stress will, says IOSH, reduce sickness absence costs and improve performance, productivity and customer satisfaction.
IOSH is calling on the Government to offer tax incentives for employers to offer proven therapies to help rehabilitate people back into the workplace.
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