Stress - some interesting facts
Our lifestyles have become ever more stressful and the World Health Organisation now describes stress as a 'world wide epidemic'. Stress-related illness costs industry millions of pounds every year. According to research commissioned by the Government’s Health and Safety Executive:

• A total of 12.8 million working days were lost to stress, depression and anxiety in 2003/4
• Up to 5 million people in the UK feel ‘very’ or ‘extremely’ stressed by their work
• About half a million people in the UK experience work related stress at a level they believe is making them ill

What is stress?
Harnessed properly, pressure can be a hugely productive force, but when demands and pressures become excessive they lead to stress. When stress is experienced over a long period of time, it can lead to mental and physical ill health. Some symptoms of stress include:

• Indecisiveness
• Irritability
• Reduced performance
• Poor timekeeping
• Feeling overwhelmed
• Increased alcohol or tobacco consumption
• Headaches and back pain

Why it makes sense to tackle stress
Tackling work-related stress efficiently can result in significant benefits for organizations. By tackling stress you may in turn reduce sickness absence and staff turnover, increase staff productivity, reduce customer complaints and improve the working environment generally.

As an employer it is your duty to ensure that you are taking steps to prevent and control work-related stress. Employers not taking stress seriously may leave themselves open to costly compensation claims, particularly since the launch of the Health & Safety Executive Stress Management Standards in November 2004. Having a stress management programme in place will go a long way, not only to protecting your employees’ wellbeing, but also your organization from potential litigation costs.

Solutions
Stress Management requires a broad toolkit of approaches. Stress Angels can provide you with a range of therapies, classes and workshops to help you tackle stress and fulfill your duty of care to your employees. We recommend:

• Massage and other complementary therapies - they have an almost immediate effect in reducing stress. They are also extremely cost effective (a monthly 20 minute massage can cost from as little as £13.50 per employee).
• Stress management workshops, to provide individuals with a range of tools and techniques to help them manage stress more effectively and achieve a healthy work-life balance.
• Yoga classes to aid relaxation and restore balance.