Unions have called for urgent action to tackle work-related stress, which they describe as a growing national crisis. New research from the Trades Union Congress (TUC) has highlighted widespread anxiety among employees, with four out of five union safety representatives reporting stress as a primary concern in their workplaces.
According to the TUC, employers are consistently failing to adequately assess or mitigate the risks of stress. A comprehensive survey of 2,700 union safety representatives found that excessive workloads are driving stress to unprecedented levels, leaving many workers struggling to cope.
Paul Nowak, general secretary of the TUC, stated: “These findings expose a growing national crisis. Stress is now entrenched as the biggest health and safety issue facing working people, and the situation is getting worse.” He added that no worker should lie awake at night from stress, but too many employers are ignoring the law and piling impossible workloads onto staff.
The TUC is calling for the law requiring employers to assess and prevent work-related stress to be enforced, and for excessive workloads to be reduced. “Workers are burning out, and they are paying with their health,” Nowak warned.
