70 million days lost. Workers' mental health is coming under increasing pressure as fears over jobs and cuts take their toll in the workplace, says Unite, the country's biggest union. Thus, stress at work is fast becoming the major cause of occupational ill health: 70 million working days are lost due to stress or poor mental health. According to the CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development), these conditions are estimated to cost British business some £8.4 billion a year (€9.63bn). In order to measure the true scale of stress and mental health problems in the workplace, Unite has joined forces with the Mind association, specialized in mental health, to launch a survey in businesses in the UK and Ireland. After the survey, the union wants to improve workplace policies and processes and stamp out discrimination against workers with mental health problems. Diana Holland, assistant general secretary of Unite, said, “Higher targets, increased workloads, more pressure and less staff are placing an unbearable strain on workers.” Yet, “stress at work is avoidable. If management carry out risk assessments and act swiftly to put action plans in place, work-related stress can be tackled.”
on workers.” Yet, “stress at work is avoidable. If management carry out risk assessments and act swiftly to put action plans in place, work-related stress can be tackled.”
Survey. About the survey, here are some of the questions asked: are you experiencing stress-related troubles (migraine, depression…)? What makes you stressed at work (workload, working hours, unrealistic targets, work-life balance, over-harsh discipline…)? How could management reduce stress? In the field, all union repre
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