HSE International ISSUE 105 | Page 6

NEWS HSE INVITES HEALTH & SAFETY LEADERS TO THE STRESS SUMMIT 2017 The Health & Safety Executive’s Stress Summit 2017 is set to take place in London on Thursday 16 March. H alf a million workers across Britain are suffering from work-related stress, depression or anxiety. Forty-two percent of self-reported cases were new in 2015/16 (Labour Force Survey). In every workplace, the employer has a duty to ensure the health, safety and welfare of the people they employ. The ethos of health and safety legislation is prevention – stopping a person being injured or made unwell by their work makes better financial sense for the employer. Estimates of how much work-related stress costs Great Britain each year range from £3billion to £100billion. Basic costs of the 11.7 million working days lost may account for the lower estimate. You can see how the bill starts to mount up with the price of lost production (including reduced productivity). Workers may experience physical symptoms such as difficulty concentrating, there’s the cost of staff replacements and then medical treatment for sufferers etc. There is a hierarchy of steps for tackling risks that can’t be avoided. They need to be assessed and dealt with initially by ‘combating the risks at source’. The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) developed the Management Standards (MS) approach which allows an employer to assess the risk to employees from work-related stress. If you would like to hear more about what you can do to prevent work-related stress and make a difference for your employees, you can sign up to The Stress Summit 2017. DATE AND LOCATION The summit will be held on Thursday 16 March 2017 at: Queen Elizabeth II Centre Broad Sanctuary London SW1P 3EE ABOUT THE EVENT In 2015/16 stress, anxiety and depression resulted in 11.7 million working days lost at an estimated social and economic cost of £5.2 billion. Not only is work related stress damaging to health and wellbeing, it can impact productivity, competitiveness and profitability. Managing stress risk factors strengthens your business and protects your workforce. Hosted by the Health and Safety Executive, The Stress Summit brings together keynote speakers and industry leading lights to show how an organisational approach to preventing known stressors in the working environment can deliver tangible benefits. You’ll learn how to successfully implement HSE’s Management Standards, prevent stress and tackle your current problems, thus helping to improve the physical and mental health of your employees and reduce sickness absence. BENEFITS OF ATTENDING • Hear keynote speakers, including Professor Sir Cary Cooper, explain the importance of getting stress management right. • Take away expert advice, knowledge and experience from internationally renowned business experts. • Be among the first to hear about the latest developments in HSE’s practical guidance, support, tools and techniques BOOK YOUR PLACE NOW Early Bird: £350 up until Friday 6 January 2017 (After 6 January the standard registration is £425). You can book your place at this event by visiting www.hsl.gov.uk/stress-summit For more information about the HSE’s Management Standards approach plus free tools to help you assess the risk and causes of organisational stress, go to the work-related stress pages on HSE’s website: www.hse.gov.uk/index.htm 6 HSE INTERNATIONAL