National Stress Awareness Day 2023

On 02 November 2023, The United Kingdom celebrates National Stress Awareness Day 2023. The month of November also is dedicated to eliminating the stigma around Men's Mental Health.

Wellbeing in the workplace has been ignored for far too long. Thankfully, awareness surrounding its importance is rising steadily, with organisations now proactively ensuring they do what they can to assist the wellbeing of their staff. 

Jason Anker MBE knows all too well how negative wellbeing can negatively affect work and, more importantly, your health. 

In his early twenties, Jason was called to a late construction job where he and his colleagues planned to leisurely ignore normal health and safety protocols so the working day could end. 

When at the top of a ladder, Jason took a tragic fall, which resulted in him requiring a wheelchair for the rest of his life. 

That was over twenty years ago. 

Today, Jason is one of the most proflic and influential health and safety speakers globally, touring to meet staff worldwide to discuss wellbeing and health and safety. 

"Someone having a bad day at home brings a considerable amount of baggage into work. That weight can turn a risk into a workplace disaster, especially when you try to cut corners in health and safety. I think this is definitely the case with me and my accident", began Jason. 

Jason's tale is sadly not an isolated one. The HSE estimate 914,000 cases of work-related stress, depression, or anxiety in 2021/22. They also say that over half of all working days lost due to work-related ill health. 

It is drastically important workplaces remain a safe haven for employees suffering from poor mental health or wellbeing. If employers do not proactively secure their workplace, the safety within organisations will only continue to drop. 

What Can We Do?

Stress in the workplace can have a serious detrimental effect on employee wellbeing and employee safety. 

Dr Tim Marsh stopped by the podcast to highlight the status of employee wellbeing and what can be done to improve it moving forward. 

Stress can manifest itself in many different visible and invisible forms - here are a couple of things to look out for:

Physical

There are several physical signs of stress that can help identify when someone is troubled. These consist of the following;

• Headaches
• Sweating
• Muscle tension
• Feeling tired and dizzy
• Sexual problems
• Fast heartbeat
• Dry mouth
• Short of breath

Mental

Stress can manifest into more invisible outlets. These are the following ways stress can be expressed;

• Worry about the future or past
• Imagining the worst
• Being forgetful
• Not concentrating
• Feeling irritable 
• Racing thoughts
• Going over and over things in your mind 
• Making mistakes
• Feeling low

Behaviour

There are certain behavioural signs that can express differing levels of stress within someone. These consist of the following;

• Crying
• Eating more or less
• Biting your nails
• Avoiding others
• Sleep problems
• Rushing tasks
• Drinking or smoking more
• Being irritable 
• Being snappy

Organisational Health and Safety

Organisational wellbeing relies upon unified understanding and transparency. This begins with training. We offer industry-leading health and safety courses engineered specifically to enhance understanding and confidence around wellbeing in the workplace. These courses are;

• IIRSM Approved Stress and Wellbeing Toolkit
• Astutis Mental Health and Workplace Safety
• IOSH Managing Occupational Health and Wellbeing