City of Leicester Stress Conferences

www.teachermentalhealth.org.uk

In this presentation:

• What is Stress?• The impact of stress in the workplace• What causes stress in the workplace?• How should schools respond to stress?• What does the law require of employers?• Practical steps in tackling stress.• The benefits of tackling stress.

What is Stress?

• Stress is NOT the same as pressure• Stress is NOT good for you• Stress is NOT a motivator• Stress is NOT an illness• Stress can and does make people physically

and mentally ill.

HSE Definition of Stress

“The adverse reaction people have to excessive pressure or other types of demand placed upon them.”

Although stress itself is not a disease, it is recognised that excessive or prolonged stress can be a cause of mental and physical illness.

The impact of stress in the workplace

• HSE research has found that one in five people – an estimated 5 million workers – is ‘very’ or ‘extremely’ stressed at work, and that stress, anxiety and depression nationally lead to more than 12 million lost working days each year. The International Labour Organisation has estimated that the cost of stress to the British economy amounts to over ten per cent of its Gross National Product (GNP).

• Over the past ten years, studies have consistently found that teachers are amongst the most stressed workers in Britain.

• Around half of all ill-health retirements take place for stress/psychiatric illness.

Continued:

• Between 2003 and 2006 the Office for National Statistics reported that the highest levels of occupational stress, depression or anxiety were amongst teachers and were double the level for ‘all occupations’.

• Teaching was rated the most stressful occupation by HSE in 2000 (42% of teachers highly stressed at work compared with 20% in population as a whole).

• You Gov research in 2007 found that stress had led to half of all teachers considering leaving the profession. A survey of London teachers in 2006 found that four-fifths envisaged stress causing them to leave in the future.

Continued:

• Half of all new teachers entering the profession leave within 5 years. Surveys of those leaving teaching identify stress as the predominant cause.

• Suicide rates amongst teachers are 40% higher than within the population as a whole.

(Source: Samaritans) • Teacher suicides doubled between 2008 and

2009. They fell in 2010 but there is a clear upward trend since 2000.

(Source ONS)

What causes stress in the workplace?

Health and Safety Executive (HSE)

Management Standards:• The Demands of your job.• Your Control over your work.• The Support you receive from managers and

colleagues.• Your Relationships at work.• Your Role in the organisation.• Change and how it is managed.

Potential symptoms of stress

PHYSICAL EMOTIONAL Sleeplessness Acute anxiety

Nausea Feeling isolated

Migraine/severe headaches

Loss of confidence/self esteem

Palpitations Depression

Skin complaints Panic attacks

Sweating/shaking Anger

Stomach problems Mood swings

Backache Lack of motivation

Loss of appetite Suicidal thoughts

Lethargy

How should schools respond to work-stress?

• Make reducing stress a priority.• Don’t blame the victims for their own stress.• Don’t excuse stress as being inevitable.• Don’t deny work-related causes.• Make sure staff are equipped to tackle stress

(especially those who manage others)• Prevention is better than treatment.

Prevention is better than treatment.

“For some the way to deal with work related stress is to diagnose, treat and rehabilitate people who experience it. For others, it is economically and morally preferable to assess and repair the failed work system or organisation. This action reduces the risk of future failure and the likelihood of future work-related ill-health. This approach focuses attention on the antecedents of work related stress in the design and management of work – but recognises that interventions at the individual level have a part to play.” (HSE)

What does the law require of employers?

• What do employers have to do?Assess the risk

• Make a suitable and sufficient risk assessment.• Identify and implement control measures.• Record the significant findings of the risk assessment

• A hazard is anything that may cause harm.

• Risk is the chance, high or low, that somebody could be harmed by these and other hazards, together with an indication of how serious the harm could be.

(Source - HSE Website)

Is work-stress a serious hazard?

There is plenty of evidence that stress causes illness amongst teachers. • It is thought to be the primary cause of teacher

absence. • It is often the cause of ending a teacher’s

career. • In rare cases it leads to suicide.

Practical steps in tackling stress?

• Create an open climate where reporting and discussion of stress is welcome and ‘safe’.

• Make sure that school leaders are equipped and determined to tackle stress.

• Recognise that the stress experienced by senior managers can lead to increased stress for other staff.

• Conduct a stress audit.• Plan action to reduce stress.• Review action to see if it is working (at least annually). Re-

plan if needed.• Respond appropriately to those suffering from stress.

The benefits of tackling stress.

• The legal requirement to tackle stress can help school leaders to resist unreasonable external demands.

• The evidence shows that in schools that tackle stress and promote staff wellbeing:– Staff turnover is lower (staff are retained);– Recruitment is easier;– Staff absence levels are lower;– School results are better.

(Source: Teacher Wellbeing)

City of Leicester Stress Conferences

www.teachermentalhealth.org.uk