Under the Health and Safety at Work Act (2015), employers are well aware that they are required to take all practicable steps to prevent harm occurring to employees. The Act requires employers to adopt a systematic approach to identifying, assessing and controlling hazards at work.
Since impairment can arise from stress or fatigue, employers must identify these risks when they threaten workplace health and safety. A tricky area under the Act is identifying when stress or fatigue become more serious problems, tipping into mental ill-health. We have been involved with a number of cases recently where line managers have missed clear signs of deteriorating mental health, with serious consequences for both the employee and the organisation.
In our experience, providing managers with an opportunity to review employee wellbeing, and to regularly seek guidance on their observations and decision-making, is one of the mechanisms that organisations can put in place to protect against this happening. We provide regular consult clinics for a number of our clients which act as a highly effective check and balance for the managers.
Contact Gaynor to find out more.