If you have five or more employees, you are required by law to write the risk assessment down.
Any paperwork you produce should help you communicate and manage the risks in your business. For most people this does not need to be a big exercise – just note the main points about the significant risks and what you decided.
An easy way to record your findings is by using our risk assessment template, and there are example risk assessments on stress below, that may help employers in small businesses.
Effectively managing stress in the workplace can have huge benefits for organisations. HSE estimates that stress, depression or anxiety and musculoskeletal disorders account for the majority of days lost due to work-related ill health: 9.9 million days a year. Each new case of stress leads to an average of 23 days off work, leaving employers without valued members of staff for significant periods of time.
The benefits of tackling stress in the workplace are clear. The quality of working life for your employees will be better; their productivity and morale will increase; their attendance levels will go up and sickness absence will go down – all benefits which will have a direct impact on how smoothly your company runs. |