Stress Management at Work Policy

Introduction

The University of Dundee is committed to providing a healthy and safe working environment for all staff. There are considerable pressures in everyday University life. Many of these pressures assist us by raising levels of performance to the benefit of our colleagues, our students, and the wider community. Improved levels of performance also contribute to our sense of personal satisfaction and self-esteem. However, the University recognises that excessive levels of work-related stress are potential causes of ill health. The University has a duty in law to ensure, as far as is reasonably practicable, that the health of its employees is not adversely affected by their work. This policy and associated guidance set out what the University does to manage work-related stress.

Policy statement

The University of Dundee will strive to protect the health, safety and welfare of its employees and recognises that excessive levels of work-related stress can lead to ill health. This is a health and safety issue which must be identified and prevented as far as possible. The University will seek to control the causes of stress in the workplace and will support staff suffering from stress in the same way as any other illness. In asserting its commitment to address the harmful effects of work-related stress, the University recognises that stress can also be present in the lives of staff outside of work, but the University understands that they may combine with stresses at work to produce a greater threat to the individual’s health. The University is therefore committed to providing help and support where appropriate, in relation to other non-work-related causes of stress. The University recognises that incidents of stress will be less prevalent in an organisation which promotes:

1. good health amongst staff
2. mutual respect between members of staff across all levels and disciplines
3. the adoption of good management practices

Organisation

Line managers have the primary responsibility for implementing measures to identify, assess and control stress at work. They are responsible for ensuring good communication on stress issues within their unit and for fostering a supportive environment in which stress issues can be identified, discussed, and addressed. They are responsible for identifying signs of stress in members of their team and addressing the causes. 

Individual members of staff also have a duty to take reasonable care of their own health and that of others who might be affected by their actions. Staff are encouraged to discuss their stress-related issues with their Head of Unit or Line Manager. Individual staff are also encouraged to look out for signs of stress in colleagues and to support them in addressing the cause(s).

There are also many other sources of support available within the University which staff can make use of, such as the University Stress SharePoint resource, Staff Wellbeing Portal, Mental Health First Aiders, People Partners, Occupational Health and the Counselling Service. Trades Union representatives (UNISON, UNITE or UCU), and Health & Safety Advisers and Contacts may also be a source of support for staff.

Arrangements

Deans/Directors must include stress in the risk assessments of their School/Directorate activities and if required, arrange specific stress risk assessments as outlined in the guidance associated with this policy. 

Deans/Directors should enquire periodically about stress and should take steps to investigate any known or suspected cases of stress in their School/Directorate. Deans/Directors are encouraged to use the support services and links listed above, and to recommend them to staff. They should reassure staff that any stress problems will be treated confidentially by these services, while attempting to resolve the matter.

Deans/Directors and line managers need to review workloads and targets for their staff to ensure that these are realistic and achievable without regular dependence on excessive hours being worked. They should act promptly to manage reasonable workloads when absences place increased demands on remaining staff.

Staff should report stress to their line manager, or alternatively, to one of the support services listed above.

Local Safety Committees should regularly discuss at their meetings whether there are stressors in their area and how these could be managed.

Reporting

Work-related absence data will be reported to the Health, Safety and Welfare Committee, which will include statistics for stress-related problems. These reports will also be forwarded to the People and Organisational Development Committee. In addition, Occupational Health and the Counselling Service will record the number of staff contacting them directly with work-related stress and will provide anonymised statistics to the Health, Safety and Welfare Committee and the People and Organisational Development Committee.

Training and support

Talent and Development will continue to offer courses to help managers tackle stress in the workplace, and to assist all staff with identifying signs of stress in themselves or others and techniques for managing and/or reducing stress. 

People Partners will continue to provide advice to Deans/Directors and staff on how to manage stress in accordance with this policy and other supporting policies such as the Sickness Absence Management Policy, the Dignity at Work and Study Policy and the Change Charter and the Managing Organisational Change Procedure.

Resources

The following internal and external resources are available.

Internal Links for further information 

• University Stress SharePoint resource
• Stress Risk Assessment Sharepoint
• People Change Sharepoint
• Staff Wellbeing Portal
• Occupational Health 
• Counselling Service

External Links for further information 

• HSE stress site
• HSE talking toolkits (resource for managers to use when assessing/tackling stress)
• HSE Working Minds resource (contains free online learning directed to managers)
• MIND
• See Me Scotland
• Work Safe UK

Document information