Online Punch

Stress is a common problem everywhere these days. Recession has added further to the stress among the working population.

Unite has taken upon itself to launch a one year program to reduce stress in offices. It aims to study the levels of stress among employees and to remind the employers of their legal obligations regarding stress management. It will also strive to put good and executable stress management best practices in place.

Unite announced about the program on International Workers’ Memorial Day (IWMD) recently.

It is also trying to pay special attention to stress management for workers of charities who are often ignored. Workers working for charities have been found to be suffering from stress issues due to financial insecurity perpetrated by low donations to the charities.

Therefore, Unite is starting a new study involving around 2,500 not-for-profit workers in order to figure out their stress related issues.

Rachael Maskell, Unite National Officer, Not for Profit Sector, has appreciated the effort.

She said that the aim of the study is to convene a national conference where the participants will develop means and ways of managing stress in charities with the involvement of the management.

It is very important to control stress in this sector due to its growing trend. As Rachael puts it, stress can strike anyone at any point, and is quite contagious.

An IOSH Training Course, accredited by the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health, can assist managers to successfully manage appropriate policies and procedures and improve upon management skills to help tackle stress in the workplace.

In Scotland, a new initiative has been taken by Hugh Henry, a member of the Scottish Parliament, to provide better protection to the shop workers and other such workers providing some service to the public. Henry is hopeful that the draft of a new bill named The Workers (Aggravated Offences) Bill will be ready by May 2010.

The main provision of the bill will be to recognise abuse and assault on workers as aggravated crime and the assaulters to be penalised heavily. There is already an Emergency Workers Act of 2005 which imposes tough penalties on the public for assault on frontline workers who provide emergency services. The present bill is aiming at having the same penalties in case of abuse of shop workers too.

Henry said that assault on shopworkers is quite common and although some regulations are there, tougher penalties are needed to protect them. The shopworkers deal with the public daily and since there is face-to face interaction, the risk of abusive behaviour and assault is greater. The law should thus be there to act as a deterrent.

Various unions have already extended their support to this bill. The general secretary of USDAW adds that one in ten workers is assaulted by the public and the present law is not providing enough protection. USDAW has already started a campaign to have such a law in England and Wales as well.

Protecting the health and safety of employees is an essential part of risk management. The health and safety consultants from Workplace Law can assist managers and supervisors in all they need to know to help handle health and safety in their teams, and to help their organisation find the best ways to lead and promote health and safety, and therefore meet its legal obligations.