Fighting Stress at Work in North Norfolk

Copyright NNDC

A public exhibition to show local employers and employees how to recognise the symptoms of work-related stress and how to reduce the problem in the workplace will be held this week in North Norfolk District Council's offices in Holt Road, Cromer.

The exhibition, which will be open from 9am to 4pm, Monday to Friday, 14 to 18 October, is being mounted as part of the European Week for Health and Safety at Work. This year the special week is 'Working on Stress' and is focusing on the prevention of psychosocial risks in the workplace and the stress they cause.

"Surveys have revealed that nearly one in three of Europe's workers, more than 40 million people, report that they are affected by stress at work," said Tim Wright NNDC's Commercial and Health Improvement Manager. "That means millions of lost working days in Europe every year. The figures speak for themselves, but far too many victims suffer in silence and far too many companies fail to realise the extent to which stress can affect their business performance."

The surveys also show that:

• most workers work at high speed or to tight deadlines for at least a quarter of their working day
• one-third of workers say they have little or no control over their work
• nine per cent of workers reported they have been subjected to intimidation at work
• stress is the second most reported work-related health problem
• four per cent or workers reported being subjected to physical violence from members of the public

"We don't know the scale of the problem in North Norfolk, " added Tim Wright. "But no company or employee is totally immune from work-related stress. We hope that our exhibition will help raise awareness of the problem and go some way to reducing it."