Ravalier PhD Theis.pdf - Anglia Ruskin Research Online

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work-related stress (Cousins et al., 2004). In response to this debate the HSE developed and released a set of
Management Standards (MS) to assist everybody within an organisation to more effectively manage stress in the
workplace. These MS are a set of conditions which, if satisfactorily met, reflect high levels of health, wellbeing and
organisational performance. The standards are split into six areas (i.e. potential stressors) which are distinct from
one another and yet nonetheless related:
• Demands – workload, work patterns, working environment.
• Control – how much say a person has in doing their work.
• Support – Split into Peer support and Managerial support.
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Peer Support: encouragement, sponsorship and resources provided by colleagues.
Managerial Support: support provided by the organisation and the line management.
• Relationships – includes promoting positive working to avoid conflict and dealing with unacceptable behaviours.
• Role – whether people understand their role in the organisation, and whether the organisation does all it can to ensure they do not have
conflicting roles.
• Change – how organisational change (large or small) is managed and communicated in the organisation.
The HSE subsequently published a self-report survey tool, known as the Management Standards Indicator
Tool (MSIT). The tool was designed in order to help an organisation measure and therefore identify risk factors for
stress. Initially the MSIT was based upon the JDCS model of stress in the workplace (see Chapter II, Section
1b.1) originally consisting of 100 potential items which were whittled down to the final 35-item survey. The
measures assess each of the seven MS areas as described by the HSE (Edwards, 2008), and is designed to capture