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Local Government Stress Management Toolkit

Launched 06 March 2012

This page provides an overview of the Local Government Stress Management Toolkit prepared by local government officers in partnership with the Health and Safety Executive NI and Labour Relations Agency.  It was launched on 06 March 2012.

Background

In November 2007 the Local Government Staff Commission for Northern Ireland in partnership with the Health and Safety Executive for NI first published a Local Government Stress Management Toolkit to guide councils through the stress management process in their workplaces. The Toolkit has helped councils fulfil their duty to protect the health, safety and welfare of employees and to stay at the forefront of best practice in doing so.

In December 2011 the decision was taken to review and refresh the Toolkit to build on the work already done by the Health and Safety Executive NI and the guidance provided in its publication Stress Management Standards.

This revised Toolkit is intended to provide more detailed practical advice, give examples and suggest good practice to assist both officers and members who are involved in the management of stress, improving efficiency and wellbeing. The Toolkit draws on existing best practice from local government, and the wider public sector, and from the advice provided by the Labour Relations Agency.  Building on established stress audit tools and principles of effective stress management, the approach seeks to provide councils with a pragmatic approach to work-related stress risk assessment and management.

The Toolkit has been jointly developed by a Working Group led by Commission and Health and Safety Executive Officers with representatives from Ballymena Borough Council, Belfast City Council, Lisburn City Council, Omagh District Council, Strabane District Council and the Labour Relations Agency.

Key Points

  • The Stress Management Toolkit aims to provide councils with a systematic approach to managing stress in the workplace
  • It aims to provide councils with practical advice and guidance on techniques for managing risks associated with workplace stress.
  • The Toolkit is generically applicable, ie it is potentially of relevance to a wide range of organisations, irrespective of the sector within which they operate.

The rationale underlying the development the Toolkit was that health and safety officers, HR managers and environmental health officers identified the need for support to introduce stress management standards in the workplace and felt that they would benefit from an information resource that provided practicable advice on how to manage work on this important workplace health issue.

Way Forward

The Stress Management Toolkit provides council with guidance on best practice in stress risk management, survey tools for assessing risks in the workplace and practicable advice on how to control them. 

Continuing support will be provided to councils implementing the stress management standards and a programme to address specific workplace issues is being developed in accordance with the Commission’s Strategic Plan

To access the Local Government Stress Management Toolkit please click here

3rd Floor
St Anne's House
15 Church Street
Belfast
BT1 1ER
Telephone: (028) 9031 3200
Email: info@lgsc.org.uk

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