The UK is confronting a severe and escalating national crisis centred on work-related stress, according to a major new warning from the country's leading trade union body.
Survey Reveals Widespread Employee Distress
Fresh research commissioned by the Trades Union Congress (TUC) has laid bare the scale of the problem. A survey of 2,700 union safety representatives found that an overwhelming four out of five (80%) identified stress as a primary health and safety concern in their workplaces.
Many respondents pinpointed unsustainable and excessive workloads as the key driver, pushing employee stress to unprecedented levels. The findings suggest that for a vast number of British workers, pressure and anxiety have become a standard, and dangerous, part of the job.
Union Boss Demands Immediate Intervention
TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak issued a stark assessment of the situation on Monday 5th January 2026. He declared that stress is now "the biggest health and safety issue facing working people, and the situation is getting worse".
In response to the growing crisis, the TUC is calling for urgent and decisive action from employers and policymakers. Their demands include a legal obligation for all employers to properly assess and prevent work-related stress, a crackdown to ensure existing health and safety laws are fully enforced, and concrete steps to reduce excessive workloads that are harming staff wellbeing.
A Call for Cultural Change in Workplaces
The union's intervention highlights a need for a fundamental shift in how workplace mental health is managed. The TUC's position indicates that treating stress as an individual failing, rather than an organisational risk, has failed.
By framing stress as the paramount occupational health issue, the TUC is pushing for it to be given the same priority as traditional physical safety hazards. The call to action suggests that without systemic changes to work intensity and management culture, the national crisis will continue to deepen, with significant consequences for public health and productivity.
