74% of adults within the UK have felt so stressed over the last year or so that they felt overwhelmed and unable to cope.
51% of adults who felt stressed reported feeling depressed, and 61% felt anxious and 37% of adults who reported feeling stressed also said that they were also feeling lonely, according to mentalhealth.org.uk (2018).

Did you know that stress, depression or anxiety account for 51% of all work-related ill health cases? And from this, 55% of all working days lost due to work-related ill health are due to stress, depression and anxiety.

The facts and figures speak for themselves, but what can you do to protect and support your employees?

1. A workplace stress risk assessment should be complete with appropriate controls implemented.
2. Utilise the HSE stress indicator tool and associated resources.
3. Ideally, trained mental health first aiders should be accessible.
4. Specific policies and procedures to encourage a positive and healthy workplace should be developed.
5. Train your employees, managers and directors on stress management, support and workload management.
6. Don’t overload your employees, manage their workload, and always match demands with employee skillsets.
7. And finally, understand that your employees have lives away from the workplace that are likely full of challenges, stress and distractions.