We can provide advice, guidance and assessment of work and health factors to support staff. We can make recommendations on ways to improve and/or adapt work practices or equipment to promote staff wellbeing.
Risk assessments
Occupational health can be involved in developing generic risk assessment tools to help support individuals manage health risks at work.
Occupational Health assessment does not replace the need for managers to conduct general health and safety risk assessments but can help support managers with any ongoing identified health risks that they have not been able to resolve.
Risk assessment tools
Oh Occupational Health and Wellbeing has designed risk assessment tools that help assist with the assessment of all the different types of risks that exist in all types of work environments.
Further information on the risk assessment process can be found in the Trust’s Risk Assessment Policy and Procedure available on CUH Connect (opens in a new tab). (Please note you will need to login via your NHS.net account to access)
We follow the CUH Risk assessment procedure and tools to produce high-quality assessment and support for those deemed to be in stressful environments and personally show systems of stress. We are responsible for providing advice and support to individuals who have referred themselves or have been referred by their manager to occupational health. We provide advice to managers on the effect of stress on health and make recommendations.
Stress risk assessments
What is stress?
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) defines stress as: “the adverse reaction people have to excessive pressure or other types of demand placed on them”.
This makes an important distinction between pressure – which can be motivating and challenging and improve performance – and stress, which can be detrimental to health.
Stress itself is not a disease but if it is excessive and goes on for some time, it can lead to mental and physical ill-health, especially for staff working in a stressful work environment.
The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 requires employers to assess the risk of stress-related ill health arising from work activities and take measures to control that risk.
What is our procedure?
We are committed to promoting a culture in which stress is not seen as a sign of weakness or a reflection of capability, and in which staff should feel able to speak freely about stress and seek appropriate help. Well-designed organised and managed work is good for us but insufficient attention to job design, work organisation and management can result in work-related stress.
There are two approaches to managing stress at work. The first approach is the departmental stress risk assessment approach. Managers proactively assess the risk of stress amongst their staff and put in place practicable measures to reduce work-related stress.
The second approach is to complete the individual stress identification tool on members of staff experiencing work-related stress. This tool allows stressors to be identified and for actions to be taken to address them. Support for those affected by stress is provided by; Oh Occupational health and wellbeing, Health assured, employee relations, the individual’s general practitioner, union representatives and chaplaincy.