The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, OECD, used the World Economic Forum 2014 in Davos to highlight the issue of stress in the workplace.
Pointing to the levels of workplace stress in the UK alone, the OECD says it is one of the key challenges, and highlighting the issue in UK workplaces and the fact that nearly 500,000 people were off work for mental health reasons last year and that stress levels amongst the UK workforce is rising.
OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurria told BBC World that the economic climate in the UK is causing a problem that was already there, to become a greater problem and that employers need to tackle the issue rather than ignore it.
He also said that white-collar workers are more prone to stress but there did not to appear to be any further link to the type of employment a worker suffering from work related stress has.
In the short interview, he said that ‘we are better at detecting it, and fortunately, we are better at dealing with it.’
Asked if employers are tackling this issue well, and whether or not business leaders are aware of or are they ignoring it, he replied, “Well they would do so at their risk.”
He continued:
“I would say that his is something not yet embedded in the awareness of managers and it is also sometimes dismissed as something that could be of a less serious nature. So again, we need to grow the awareness and at the same time deal with it in a way which is realistic, which is of the benefit for the worker and eventually will be for the benefit of the company.”
You can watch the short video of his interview by clicking on the pic above.
The fact that even the OECD are highlighting this issue, shows the extent of the damage that work-related stress does to not only to the individual concerned but also to the company in which the worker is employed.
Whilst the Secretary General is aware of this fact, too many UK employers are not. It is therefore the job of Union Safety Reps to remind them of what the OECD has said on the lack of management awareness in UK workplaces.
Once again, Trade Union concern over work related stress has been vindicated. It is therefore pathetic of the UK government to ignore health and safety at work issues and to try and destroy what little protection workers currently have.
Source: BBC News
