The simple answer is YES. Work-related stress is a workplace health and safety risk, and employers have a legal duty to assess and manage it.
A stress risk assessment should not be completed by one person working in isolation. The employer remains responsible, but the process should involve people who understand the organisation, the work being done and employees’ experience of it.
When carrying out a stress risk assessment, you are not trying to decide who is stressed. You are looking for workplace factors that could create harmful pressure.
Hazard and risk are often used as though they mean the same thing. They don’t. And when we are talking about work-related stress, there is another important term: risk factor. Getting the language right makes the risk assessment much easier to understand.
A stress risk assessment should not be completed once and then forgotten. Workplaces change, so employers need to check that the assessment remains relevant and that agreed controls are working.
Completing a stress risk assessment is only part of the process. Employers should keep a clear record of what informed the assessment, what was identified, what action was agreed and whether that action worked.
Identifying a possible cause of work-related stress is not the end of a stress risk assessment. It is the point where action should begin.
Discover how UK employers can effectively manage work-related stress using the HSE Management Standards framework.
Many employers run a stress or wellbeing survey and assume they have covered the issue.
But a survey on its own is not a stress risk assessment.
The content on this website is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice; you should consult a qualified, registered professional for advice. StressRiskAssessment.co.uk is operated by EMW Support Limited, trading as Mente. Registered in England and Wales. Company number 10642354. Registered office: 9–10 Cross Street, Preston, PR1 3LT.
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