How to identify and mitigate the risk of stress in your workplace, and why it’s important

As April is Stress Awareness Month and with the HSE stepping up its focus on stress management, this blog will address the important question – are you actively assessing and mitigating stress at an individual and team level across all areas of your business?

But first, if you are unsure what the difference is between stress and burnout, how to spot the signs of stress, or how to build a culture of prevention in your organisation, then you may want to start by reading our blog ‘How to support the mental wellbeing of your team, through stress management’.

Please also watch this short video:

In this blog, we will look more specifically at why stress risk assessments are important, how to undertake them, how to make reasonable work adjustments (if required) and how to mitigate stress risk factors across your organisation.

Please use the link below to download an infographic. Supporters please log in to the Portal to download the resource.

Download the infographic that accompanies this blog

Why this is important

‘Preventing work-related stress isn’t just good for people – it’s the law’ (Health and Safety Executive (HSE)).

In December 2025, the HSE found the University of Birmingham to have material breaches of the Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations 1999. As a result, the HSE served a Notice of Contravention due to the university not having effective arrangements in place to manage the risk from work-related stress. This action demonstrates the HSE’s clear intention to investigate potential breaches of HSE legislation.

Despite organisations having a legal duty of care; that good stress management practices help organisations to avoid potential prosecution and a fine; and the fact that looking after the mental wellbeing of your team is the right thing to do; our survey results below demonstrate that too many organisations simply do not prioritise assessing and addressing work-related stress.

• Almost 70% of respondents said that their line managers do not know how to undertake stress risk assessments or understand when they may be necessary.
  
  
• Over 46% do not have mental health policies in place.
  
  
• 61% said they have not provided all employees with general mental health awareness training in the last two years.
  
  
• However, almost 78% said they do record the reason for absence being related to stress or common mental health conditions.

The fact that many organisations are not doing enough to identify and mitigate stress in the workplace is also borne out by:

• An HSE report on stress, depression and anxiety found that they accounted for 52% of all work-related ill health (that is 964,000 workers) and 62% of all working days lost due to work-related ill health (or 22.1 million days), during 2024-25.
  
  
• A survey on disclosing mental ill-health found that:
  • 35% of workers said they are not comfortable letting their line manager or senior leader know they are experiencing high or extreme levels of pressure and stress at work. 
  • 39% of workers aged 18–24 feel uncomfortable opening up to a manager about stress levels.
  • 27% of workers who took time off due to stress received no support upon their return, and only 17% had a formal return-to-work plan put in place.
    
    
• Another survey found that 15% of employees admitted that stress and fear have already led to preventable mistakes. 
  
  
• Government statistics show that, on average, preventing a single job loss can save employers £8,000 in recruitment costs and business output.  
  
  
• Employers that proactively invest in mental health support for their workforce can make significant gains, with an average £5 return for every £1 spent on wellbeing support.

How do I undertake a stress risk assessment?

‘Employers have a legal duty to protect workers from stress at work by doing a risk assessment and acting on it. This is the same duty you have to protect people from other health and safety risks.’ (HSE)

If you employ five or more members of staff, then you need to complete, record and safely store a written stress risk assessment form. Although you do not need to complete a written form if you employ four or less, it is still good practice to do so.

It is important to conduct stress risk assessments with your team on a regular basis and not wait until there is an issue – for example, accident, sickness, presenteeism, resignation – before taking action. If an employee tells you they are experiencing work-related stress then you need to conduct an individual risk assessment within two weeks.

Steps:

1. Arrange to meet with the employee/team at a convenient time and location for everyone concerned.
   
   
2. If this is a one-to-one assessment, ensure the room is comfortable and conducive to having a relaxed and confidential conversation, i.e., that no one will walk in to make a drink, or use the photocopier. The same applies if it is an online call.
   
   
3. Use your organisational stress risk assessment template which should include a list of standard questions and a scoring mechanism as it provides a standardised means to record the conversation. Supporters, please download our template from the Portal.
   
   
4. Explain the purpose of the meeting:
   
   • The aim is to have a supportive, open and honest conversation.
   • During the meeting you will be covering, a) whether any contributory factors are causing stress, b) to what extent is that stress impacting on them, and c) what action could be taken to alleviate that stress. 
     
     
5. Be open-minded and ask open questions. 
   
   
6. To structure your conversation, you may find it helpful to use a framework (please see below). 
   
   
7. Try to remain focused on work-related stress risk factors – although personal challenges can also impact on the individual, you need to keep the discussion focused on workplace factors that you can improve.
   
   
8. Discuss what reasonable work adjustments might help to alleviate the stress (please see the next section for further information).
   
   
9. Signpost further support – your Employee Assistance Programme and/or Occupational Health (if you have them), your Mental Health First Aider(s), HR, their mental health team (if relevant), GP or call Samaritans on 116 123. Remember the conversation is confidential, however, if you need to share the information for example, if they need to take time off or if there is a safeguarding concern – then tell the person who you will inform, when and why.
   
   
10. If the situation is complex, or you are unsure of how to conduct the risk assessment or make reasonable adjustments, include HR for guidance.

Framework for conducting a conversation:

HSE’s six management standards:

1. Demands - your workload and how challenging it is for you.
2. Control - how much control you have over how, when and where you do your work.
3. Support – how much help you get to do your job (when required) and how much training is provided.
4. Role – whether the job is right, whether you want to do it, and if you can do it.
5. Relationships – how you get on with your colleagues, including your line manager, and how well you work together.
6. Change – how much notice you receive about upcoming changes and whether or not you agree with them.

If you are not already a Supporter, please discover the benefits of our mental health and wellbeing programme (including an assessment to identify the gaps in your mental health provision, a tailored plan of action and access to templates).

How to make reasonable work adjustments 

‘Employers must make reasonable adjustments to make sure workers with disabilities, or physical or mental health conditions, are not substantially disadvantaged when doing their jobs.’ (Gov.uk)

But, as you will see in our news item ‘Why preventing work-related stress is good for business’ – preventing and mitigating stress risk factors is not just the law, it also benefits the organisation and the individual.

Please watch this short video on how to make reasonable work adjustments:

Steps:

1. Identify what effective and sustainable work adjustments would help the employee to thrive in the workplace.
2. Work adjustments will be different for each person, even if they have similar mental ill-health conditions. However, there are some stress related work adjustments to consider (please see below).
3. Mental health is not static, it changes over time and therefore it is important to agree next steps, for example:
   
   • Agree how long you will trial adjustment(s) for.
   • Review regularly.
   • Consider further adjustment(s) if needed.
   • Signpost support.

Work-related stress reasonable adjustments:

1. Role review:
   
   • Are there any particularly stressful parts of the role? 
   • Can deadlines be changed? 
   • Can projects be broken down into smaller chunks or could they be moved to a different job or department?
     
     
2. Workload and work patterns review:     
   
   • Is there any work that can be delegated, escalated and/or moved to a colleague? 
   • Would flexible working, taking shorter but more frequent breaks across the work day, job sharing or part time working be appropriate?
     
     
3. Relationships: if the stress is being caused by someone they are working for, or with, could they work in a team they trust more?
   
   
4. Communication: 
   
   • Discuss what form of communication works best for them, for example, someone seeing a meeting pop into their diary without explanation or an agenda outlining what will be covered, could make them feel anxious, so discuss how they would like to be informed about what the meeting will cover. 
   • Consider communication formats, for example, face-to-face, Teams call, email, phone call, plus improved communication methods on specific subjects, for example, work requests, changes within the organisation etc.
     
     
5. Skill development: are there any courses or training that can upskill the person, for example, in the use of technology, in prioritising workloads, stress management, starting a conversation. For managers, training on managing conflict, managing conversations, conducting risk assessments and how to act on them, may be useful.
   
   
6. Peer mentoring: pair the person up with someone who can act as a sounding board, provide advice and guidance when required, and help with skill development.
   
   
7. Environment: 
   
   • Would a quiet space, a personal office, home working, the use of noise cancelling headphones, or access to natural light help to alleviate stress? 
   • Would assistive software help, for example, automating repetitive tasks, improving organisation and time management, or providing access to information quickly?

Mitigate the risk

If you have undertaken the risk assessment and identified that reasonable adjustments are required, the important next step is to ensure that the causes are mitigated, where possible, to ensure other employees do not experience the same issues.

Steps:

1. Anonymise and collate the evidence on what causes stress within your workplace, gathered during stress risk assessments.
   
   
2. Identify common contributors, for example, long work hours, working away from home, financial uncertainty, heavy workload, lack of sufficient training etc. (it may be helpful to use the HSE’s management standards (as above) as a framework for this). 
   
   
3. Identify which members of staff are at most risk from these factors, and why. This can be achieved through talking with staff, reviewing surveys, exit interviews, sickness records, annual reviews, referrals to occupational health and/or your Employee Assistance Programme (if you have one), as well as using the signs of stress (download our spotting the signs of stress resource) to identify those already experiencing stress. 
   
   
4. Meet with the staff identified to undertake an individual stress risk assessment and make reasonable work adjustments (if needed).
   
   
5. Create, communicate and continue to review your workplace stress risk assessment action plan, including:
   
   • What needs to be improved.
   • The changes you plan to make.
   • Who is responsible for implementing and monitoring the changes.
   • Create a timeline for the implementation.
   • Communicate the plan, how it will work, who to speak to if there are questions.
   • Annually review the plan to check it is achieving its objectives, review feedback from the teams on overall team stress, refine the plan if needed.

We are all individuals and all jobs are different, therefore, it is logical that there is no one solution, or work adjustment, which will be suitable for all employees. Each case must be considered based on the facts and the circumstances. The solution must suit the individual, the role and the organisation. 

From an organisational perspective, employers need to consider whether the action plan:

• Will remove or reduce the disadvantage?
• Is practical to make?
• Is affordable?
• Could harm the health and safety of others?

Conclusion

In summary, work can, and should, be good for workers’ mental health and everyone (that includes the organisation and individual) benefits from a mentally resilient workforce.

Further reading

• Blogs:
  
  • How to support the mental wellbeing of your team, through stress management.
  • How to optimise mental wellbeing through workplace culture.
  • Why preventing work-related stress is good for business.
    
    
• Free workplace stress resources and videos.
  
  
• Mental health and wellbeing training courses.
  
  
• Discover how we can help you to build positive mental health in and through work.