GMB Magazine GMB24 The Pulse Spring 2016 | Page 14

HEALTH &

SAFETY
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Keeping me

bers safe

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The government won’t address this issue,
nor will employers, but GMB leads the way

THE LAW SAYS...
Anyone who employs other people has
a duty of care to their employees. In practice,
this is usually done by complying with the
Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and all

Health and Safety at Work Regulations led to
formal risk assessments. For the first time,
employers were forced to consider mental
health risks. The HSE published its Stress
Management Standards in
2004 giving,
for first time, a
framework and
structure for
assessing risks
from stress.
However, 12
years later, more than
400,000 workers are
reported as suffering
from stress at work
each year according to
HSE data – and it’s left
up to GMB negotiators
to demand that
management acts on
stress, and to prevent
ACT NOW ON STRESS
employers avoiding
GMB makes sure workers
their duty of care.
rs.

the different regulations made under this
important legislation.
The Act covers both physical and mental
health at work, but most employers
concentrate on physical health. This is
largely because physical health risks are
easier to spot and act upon. It is much easier
putting guarding on a saw blade, say, than
identifying that a worker has a mental
health condition and giving them support.
For almost 20 years, the new
regulations focused on physical hazards
such as asbestos, lead, electricity and so
on. Then, in 1992, the introduction
of The Management of

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T

he figure is shocking. Over
400,000 workers are made ill by
work-related stress every year and
employers, the Health and Safety
Executive (HSE) and the government are
doing very little about it. That’s a lot of
suffering, just because the government is
hell-bent on what it calls ‘cutting red tape’.
As the HSE won’t help, it’s up to GMB
negotiators and members to tackle stress
at work directly and this year GMB has
published a new guide to stress and mental
health at work. This gives detailed guidance
for GMB health and safety representatives on
the key issues and risks. It also describes
how to apply the HSE’s Stress Management
Standards, and how to negotiate these
with employers.

WE CAN HELP
GMB can advise and assist
on mental health issues.

14 GMB National

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