Wednesday, August 12, 2009

HSE Stress Enforcement Notice: The Triumph of Experience Over Hope

Positive news for a change in the Health & Safety at work world. An improvement notice has finally been issued by an HSE inspector against Hope University in Liverpool for its continual failure to carry out adequate workplace risk assessments over occupational stress.

At long last the HSE is actually enforcing the law of the land with regard to this serious subject. All, repeat, all, organisations with more than 4 employees have to carry out and write suitable and sufficient assessments of all significant risks. Occupational stress is obviously a significant risk. In 2007/08 according to the HSE 442,000 Brits reported that they had been made ill by work related stress.

Arguably since the 1974 Health & Safety at Work Act and certainly since the Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations in 1992 these assessments should have been done. Well done to the HSE for finally taking action but note that it has taken at least 17 years to do what they have always been legally required to enforce. Congratulations to the local trade unions that were forced to complain to the HSE to get meaningful change. The HSE now need to start banging heads together.

Senior Directors are potentially personally at risk of imprisonment or massive fines from this failure. So why on earth do they not do what they are supposed to do?

I suspect that the main reason is simply that the HSE have not enforced this legal requirement in the past. Q.E.D.

No excuses then. It is a criminal act not to properly assess workplace stress risks. Senior managers not only need to ensure that it is done and done properly but maybe it would be a good idea for them to set a good example and declare that they have carried out their own such assessments for the senior management team and consult with their safety reps upon this?

I would love to know how many of the G15 top housing associations fully comply with their lawful responsibility in this regard.

I’ll “hazard” a guess it’s a big round figure.

Check out Health & Safety Professional and HSE Enforcement site

(Apologies for the very weak puns – such things are one of my trade union de-stressor control measures)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

But INs have been done before re stress so its nothing new -but it is welcome. However what will happen -as with so many notices -is that extension after extension will be given( due to the vagaries of the Enforcement management model and the usual negotiations) so the effect may well simply be temporary.

John Gray said...

Hi Kat

I thought this was the first one over stress specific assessments? The others had been related to bullying etc?

Great news if there has been others. Any housing association specific? (your area of enforcement)