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14/10/2002
Plight of stressed out staff highlighted in European safety week
It has been revealed that around 13,000 employees in Northern Ireland suffer from illnesses such as stress brought on by work-related stress each year.
The figures were released to highlight the scale of the issue during the first day of the European Week for Safety and Health, which runs from October 14-21.
According to a recent survey, UK businesses are losing out in terms of man hours lost and damages paid out to stressed staff.
Last year, around 6,000 UK companies paid out an average of £51,000 in damages for workplace stress, this represents a 12-fold increase in the number of employees who successfully sued their employer the year before. In total, 112,000 cases relating to employment issues were brought to Industrial Tribunals in 2001.
Jim Keyes, chief executive of the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland (HSENI), pledged to put tackling work-related stress on top of the agency's agenda.
"This year's European Week provides us all with an opportunity to reflect on the consequences of stress at work," he said.
"This is all-the-more important when you consider just how widely this can impact on the wellbeing of Northern Ireland's workforce."
HSENI have distributed more than 13,000 stress information packs across the north in order to raise awareness of the issue.
The European Week for Safety and Health is part of a wider initiative organised by the European Agency for Safety and Health. For further information call HSENI's helpline on 0800 0320 121.
Elsewhere, a report commissioned by the UK's biggest private sector union, Amicus, has found that Britain's workplaces are becoming increasingly stressful and few managers are accepting responsibility for the problem.
Over half of the 2,000 union health and safety representatives surveyed from across the economy believed stress was a bigger problem than five years ago, and a similar number said it had got worse in the last 12 months.
The survey was released at the start of a TUC campaign to combat stress and bullying.
(GMcG)
The figures were released to highlight the scale of the issue during the first day of the European Week for Safety and Health, which runs from October 14-21.
According to a recent survey, UK businesses are losing out in terms of man hours lost and damages paid out to stressed staff.
Last year, around 6,000 UK companies paid out an average of £51,000 in damages for workplace stress, this represents a 12-fold increase in the number of employees who successfully sued their employer the year before. In total, 112,000 cases relating to employment issues were brought to Industrial Tribunals in 2001.
Jim Keyes, chief executive of the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland (HSENI), pledged to put tackling work-related stress on top of the agency's agenda.
"This year's European Week provides us all with an opportunity to reflect on the consequences of stress at work," he said.
"This is all-the-more important when you consider just how widely this can impact on the wellbeing of Northern Ireland's workforce."
HSENI have distributed more than 13,000 stress information packs across the north in order to raise awareness of the issue.
The European Week for Safety and Health is part of a wider initiative organised by the European Agency for Safety and Health. For further information call HSENI's helpline on 0800 0320 121.
Elsewhere, a report commissioned by the UK's biggest private sector union, Amicus, has found that Britain's workplaces are becoming increasingly stressful and few managers are accepting responsibility for the problem.
Over half of the 2,000 union health and safety representatives surveyed from across the economy believed stress was a bigger problem than five years ago, and a similar number said it had got worse in the last 12 months.
The survey was released at the start of a TUC campaign to combat stress and bullying.
(GMcG)
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