Organisational Responses to the HSE Management Standards for Work-related Stress

Progress of the Sector Implementation Plan Phase 1

Working to reduce the causes of work-related stress is a key area for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), due to the high proportion of sickness absence which is attributable to stress-related conditions.

As part of their programme of work in this area, the HSE developed tools and frameworks to assist employers in conceptualising and directly tackling work-related stress. This research was designed to evaluate a particular aspect of this work, the Management Standards for work-related stress, Sector Implementation Plan Phase 1 (or SIP1).

SIP1 ran from Autumn 2005 to March 2007 and was designed to implement the HSE's Management Standards for work-related stress in 100 volunteer organisations in the public and finance sectors.

This report provides an overview of the progress of SIP1 and draws together a range of qualitative data, including the experiences of organisations participating in SIP1, from the perspective of managers and staff working in those organisations, and the experiences of HSE and Acas staff supporting participating organisations.