University Fire Officer’s Report

Health, Safety and Environment Committee

Occupational Stress - Update

1. Head of Department meetings

Meetings with all HoDs and HoSSs were completed at the end of November 2006. All Heads are required to carry out a stress risk assessment, they have been given a deadline of the end of February 2007. In some cases, ongoing activities (such as discussion groups or away days) will contribute to this assessment, therefore an interim document will be produced.

A summary paper has been produced of the issues most commonly raised by heads during these discussions – these include:-

a) Bureaucracy, and the decision making processes/structure within the university

b) Appraisal processes

c) Capability and performance management

d) Workload issues

e) Particular issues relating to the HoD role (e.g. workload, preparation etc)

2. Focus groups

Ten focus groups were conducted in December and January. The key areas of discussion were Manager support (e.g. how does your manager support you; what is good or bad about this); Demands (what makes workload easier or more difficult to manage) and Change (what experience have you had of change, and what has made it easier or more difficult to handle).

Groups were formed by inviting randomly selected employees from horizontal groupings of job families. There were some difficulties with recruitment e.g. a much lower response rate from initial invite than had been anticipated, resulting in the need to issue invites to additional people, often at relatively short notice. Academics on lecturer grade were particularly difficult to recruit (over 50 invited to get 3 volunteers!) However, those who attended groups contributed constructively and reported that the process was a positive experience.

An eleventh group, consisting of members of EMG is currently being arranged.

There were a number of strong themes which emerged, many of which were common across several groups. These included issues of manager training, work planning and organisation, career support and development and management of poor performance. The particular pressures on heads of academic departments were also a common theme for discussion.

A document summarising these issues is currently being produced.

3. Stress related ill-health

41 individuals have been seen in the Occupational Health department over the last 2 years, suffering from ill-health which is at least in part attributed to work. An audit of these cases is currently underway to identify the most common causes of distress.

4. Stress Sub-Group

The outcomes from the above three processes will be reviewed by the Stress Sub Group. The recurring themes will form the basis of a report identifying key areas for intervention, and including suggestions as to the range of measures which may prove helpful. This report will be presented to EMG on completion as well as to the Health, Safety and Environment committee in June.

5. Stress policy

It is anticipated that the current stress policy will be reviewed and updated at the end of this process. It is important that the policy and any recommendations reflect the inevitable pressures of working life and the need for balance. The use of the term ‘Stress’ often brings its own negative connotations, it is therefore intended to find a more constructive nomenclature. Any suggestions by committee members would be welcomed by the Occupational Health Adviser.

Author - Wendy Jones

Date - February 2007