- Work-related stress, depression or anxiety accounts for around half of all work-related ill health (HSE, 2023/24).
- Assessing the risk of work-related stress is a legal duty under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, not simply good practice.
- The HSE Management Standards give employers a ready-made framework across six areas: demands, control, support, relationships, role and change.
- A stress risk assessment achieves nothing on its own; its value lies in the action that follows.
Work-related stress, depression and anxiety are the single largest cause of work-related ill health in Great Britain. HSE figures for 2023/24 attribute an estimated 776,000 cases and 16.4 million lost working days to them, around 46% of all work-related ill health. For most employers the question is no longer whether work-related stress affects their people, but what they are doing to manage it. A stress risk assessment is the structured way to answer that.
A legal duty, not just good practice
Under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, employers must assess the significant risks to employees' health and safety and take reasonable steps to control them. The HSE is explicit that this includes the risk of work-related stress, which should be assessed and managed like any other workplace hazard. Employers with five or more employees must also record the significant findings of the assessment.
Framing stress as a health and safety risk, rather than only a wellbeing initiative, tends to secure the time and senior attention it needs, and it puts the focus where it belongs: on the conditions of work rather than on individual resilience.
Good practice
A stress risk assessment examines risk across roles and teams; it is not a way to diagnose individuals. Where a particular employee is already unwell, that is better addressed through a management referral to occupational health, alongside the wider assessment.
A stress risk assessment examines the conditions of work, not the resilience of individuals.
The HSE Management Standards
The HSE Management Standards give employers a practical framework, built around six aspects of work that are associated with poorer health, lower productivity and higher absence when they are managed badly:
- Demands – workload, work patterns and the working environment.
- Control – how much say people have in the way they do their work.
- Support – the encouragement and resources provided by the organisation and colleagues.
- Relationships – promoting positive working and managing conflict and unacceptable behaviour.
- Role – whether people understand their role and are not given conflicting duties.
- Change – how organisational change is managed and communicated.
How to carry one out
Begin with visible commitment from senior managers and by involving employees, who understand their own work better than anyone. Decide the scope: the whole organisation, a single department, or a role where the risk appears highest.
Gather evidence rather than relying on impressions. The HSE Indicator Tool, a short validated staff survey, gives a structured read across the six standards; combine it with absence and turnover data, return-to-work conversations and, where useful, focus groups. Evaluate what you find against each standard, identify where the pressure is greatest, and record the significant findings with clear, owned and time-bound actions. Because working conditions change, review the assessment after any significant change and at planned intervals.
Medwyn tip
A short survey using the HSE Indicator Tool gives you a baseline you can measure against. Repeating it after you have made changes shows whether they have worked, and demonstrates to staff that their input led to something.
Turning the assessment into change
The assessment itself changes nothing; its value lies in what follows. Prioritise the areas where the risk is highest and a realistic change is possible. Some improvements are structural, such as workload planning or clearer role definitions; others are about manager capability, such as training managers to recognise early signs and hold supportive conversations. Be open with staff about what the assessment found and what you intend to do, because a survey that appears to lead nowhere erodes trust and lowers future engagement.
Where occupational health fits
An occupational health provider can support at every stage: designing and interpreting the assessment, advising on the six standards, and training managers to hold confident conversations about pressure and workload. For employees who are already affected, a management referral provides clinical advice on adjustments and a safe return to work. Medwyn offers organisational stress risk assessments aligned to the HSE Management Standards through our mental health and neurodiversity service.
This article is general guidance for employers and is not individual medical or legal advice. If you are unsure how it applies to your organisation, contact our team.