NICE encourages employers to cut workplace stress

During November the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) is promoting mental wellbeing at work through productive and healthy working conditions. The guidance aims to help reduce the estimated 13.7 million working days lost each year due to work-related mental health conditions including stress, depression and anxiety which are currently estimated to cost UK employers around £28.3 billion per year at current pay levels.

The NICE guidance highlights how employers and employees can work in partnership to improve mental wellbeing within the workplace, by taking a positive organisation-wide approach that promotes mental wellbeing through changes in ways of working, such as improved line management and the provision of flexible working where appropriate. These recommendations will not only benefit employees but will also help employers to reduce sickness absence and staff turnover leading to increased productivity and performance.

Professor Mike Kelly, Public Health Excellence Centre Director, NICE said, “The benefits of promoting mental wellbeing within the workplace are clear. Today’s guidance explains how employers can make simple changes which will improve the management of mental health in the workplace, including the prevention and early identification of problems. The financial incentives for employers adopting these approaches are significant however measures such as the performing of annual audits of employee wellbeing are not common practice. By following these recommendations an average organisation of 1000 employees can expect to save an estimated £250 000 a year, due to reduced absenteeism and increased performance. The guidance therefore represents a win-win for employers and their employees and should be seen as important advice to help organisations irrespective of their size or sector.”

In response Perry Leeks, operations director at First Response Training says, “Stress awareness training is an excellent way to provide staff with the tools they need to fully assess the risks of stress in the workplace. First Response has experts who can deliver bespoke training packages as well as generic course types to clients across the UK.”

First Response delivers stress awareness and managing safety awareness courses to recognised organisations, this includes the Houses of Parliament and the Met Office.

Perry added, “Our Coping with Pressure course is a 3 hour basic awareness course for any staff member. It takes them through the fine line between pressure and stress and helps individuals recognise when they are showing signs and symptoms of stress. It then offers practical and useful techniques to enable individuals to manage their own stress and so helps managers and individuals alike to reduce the risk.”

As an in-depth course First Response also offer a 5 hour Managing Stress course that helps staff understand the risk stress can pose in the workplace. Managers are shown how stress can affect individuals and output in the department. It takes them through how to recognise signs of stress and practical methods to reduce the risk.

First Response Training can provide a variety of health & safety training courses and can tailor training to the needs of the individual employer. In addition, to complement practical courses, First Response offers up to 40 E-Learning titles. Contact First Response today on freephone 0800 310 2300 or e-mail info@firstresponsetraining.com.