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Stress And Wellbeing 2006 - New DPP Report Available
  


Stress And Wellbeing 2006 - New DPP Report Available

 

The importance for employers to manage and reduce Stress at Work is emphasised yet again in a recent 14 page report issued by the Developing Patient Partnership's (DPP's).

The DPP Report states that Stress is the buzzword of the 21st Century and new findings in this report provide a stark insight into how stressed we all feel, how stress is misunderstood by the UK population and our failure to adopt effective coping mechanisms.

It also includes top tips for tackling stress at home and at work and shows what employers can do to support their staff in dealing with stress.

New Technology comes out as one of the surveys major stressors of the last year and is a sign of our times and, given that nearly a third of people (30%) would turn to alcohol to help relieve their stress, we may be looking at a mental health time-bomb says the DPP Report.

Many people are unsure about what true stress is and confuse it with normal life problems like having a bad day and common worries and conflicts. Such misunderstanding means that stress is often not taken as seriously as it should be, and attempts to reduce the problem are impeded by the stigma often associated with mental ill health.

For the purpose of this new report a survey, conducted by ICM Research, was undertaken.

The survey findings feature throughout the report. ICM Research interviewed a random sample of 1003 adults aged 18+ across the country by telephone between 7-8 December 2005.

The DPP Survey's main findings:

79% of people believe they have experienced stress in the last year

68% believe stress is having a really bad day

63% identify stress as dealing with difficult people

58% believe stress is having too much work to do

64% of people incorrectly believe that stress is an illness

30% of people report IT-related pressures as a major source of stress

20% of people find travel to and from work stressful Fear of job security is now seen as a major cause of stress

A quarter of those surveyed were stressed out after suffering personal injury at work.

Trouble with the boss or Bad Management Style is rated as much more stressful than it used to be

Men are more likely than women to turn to cigarettes and alcohol

A quarter of men would work longer hours to try to reduce stress

People are more reluctant to speak to their manager about work stress

Only 15% seek the help of their Occupational Health Department at work - this may reflect the lack of available OHS support rather than the under-use of services.

There is a stigma to overcome and a need for employers to recognise the need to support their staff in reducing work-based stress.

Branches and Safety Representatives will find this latest report of interest, reiterating many of the findings of previous reports but very much to the point underlining the fact that Stress at Work remains a major health and safety problem and more needs to be done in the workplace.

The HSE standards and guidance were a good start but we remain of the view that the enforcing authorities need to do more by way of supporting workers under stress and their Trade Unions and Trade Union Safety Representatives in trying to resolve problems and reduce Stress.

The point has been made strongly to the HSE's Head of Psychosocial policy, Chris Rowe, and Health and Safety Minister, Lord Hunt, that unless bosses start to seriously tackle stress and the causes of stress then they will continue to lose many days every year to workers off sick and many hours of productivity from their demoralised workforce.

Therefore more enforcement action and consideration to introducing 'Stress Regulations' may be needed to drive down the unacceptable statistics.

Download Report

 

Source: CWU LTB 467/06

 


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