risk management - Director Magazine

ARE YOU TAKING RISKS WITH YOUR STAFF?
to work for the next five years. It is worth looking at whether you can modify your
workplace so that even if someone is not 100 per cent fit they can still come back
and be involved, perhaps in a different role or part-time at first.
combating stress at work
Earlier this year the Health and Safety Executive launched The Better Business
campaign, targeting SMEs and encouraging them to take health and safety
and staff wellbeing more seriously.
Tackling stress effectively is often as much about changing cultures and attitudes
as it is about amending processes and rules. In 2004, the HSE developed a series
of management standards for tackling stress to help employers identify the
primary sources of stress within their organisation. It categorises these ‘stressors’
into six key areas:
demands (workload, work patterns, work environment)
how much control and say someone has over their work
the amount of support they get
their relationships at work
their role
how change is managed within the business
The idea is that you measure how your organisation is doing against the
standards and then follow the advice on what strategies to take.
It can take as long as 18 months or more for the benefits from any stress
reduction programme to filter through. Companies should be prepared to
take lots of small steps to achieve change rather than trying to implement an
ambitious programme in one fell swoop, suggests the HSE.
Being able to show you are actively following or implementing the HSE stress
management standards should also help when it comes to defending any
claim in a tribunal or court of law.
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