date: Friday 24 October 2008
embargo: 00.01hrs Monday 27 October 2008
Stress, overwork and office hazards top workers' safety concerns
Stress or overwork, injuries and illnesses caused by the poor use of display screen equipment and repetitive strain injuries (RSI) top the list of workers' safety concerns, according to the TUC's biennial survey of safety reps published today (Monday).
Three in five (60 per cent) safety reps reported stress or overwork as a concern in their workplace. Concerns about stress are most common in the public sector and in large workplaces, with the highest instances in central government (81 per cent), education (74 per cent) and health services (69 per cent).
Stress was cited as the biggest concern in ten of the 14 sectors covered by the survey. Manufacturing (noise), construction, distribution and hotels (back strains) and voluntary organisations (display screen equipment) reported other top hazards at work.
Injuries and illnesses resulting from the poor use of display screen equipment has risen from fourth in 2006 to become the second-most common concern, reported by two in five (41 per cent) safety reps. Repetitive strain injuries (40 per cent) are another commonly reported hazard.
Other concerns on the increase since the 2006 survey include slips, trips and falls (up six per cent), working alone (up three per cent) and violence and threats at work (up four per cent).
Workers in London are most concerned about stress (68 per cent), while workers in Yorkshire and East Anglia are most worried about working alone (38 per cent). Workers in the South East (33 per cent) and London (32 per cent) are significantly more concerned about violence and threats at work than the rest of the UK (26 per cent).
TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: 'Stress casts a gloomy shadow over far too many UK workplaces. And as the current economic crisis creates more anxiety about job security, stress is likely to increase.
'Unions and employers must work together to combat this as it can have a huge personal cost to workers and a damaging cost to businesses.
'Simple office hazards, such as spending too much time fixed on a computer screen or sitting on a badly designed chair, are often overlooked by employers. But today's survey shows that they are actually a huge concern to workers and need to be addressed. Thankfully, over 150,000 safety reps across the UK are on hand to help employers prevent these hazards.'
NOTES TO EDITORS:
Top ten hazards of concern to workers, as cited by safety reps (per cent)
|
Hazard |
2008 |
2006 |
2004 |
|
Overwork or stress |
60 |
61 |
58 |
|
Display screen equipment |
41 |
36 |
32 |
|
Repetitive strain injuries (RSI) |
40 |
38 |
40 |
|
Slips, trips, falls on a level |
33 |
27 |
28 |
|
Back strains |
31 |
28 |
35 |
|
Working alone |
30 |
27 |
27 |
|
Violence and threats |
26 |
25 |
22 |
|
Long hours culture |
23 |
24 |
25 |
|
High temperatures |
20 |
26 |
19 |
|
Bullying |
20 |
15 |
12 |
- This is the seventh biennial TUC safety representatives' survey. 2,611 safety representatives responded to the questionnaire in the period May-June 2008.
- The safety reps survey will be available from 00.01hrs Monday 27 October at www.tuc.org.uk/safetyrepssurvey2008. Embargoed copies are available from the TUC press office.
- All TUC press releases can be found at www.tuc.org.uk
- Register for the TUC's press extranet: a service exclusive to journalists wanting to access pre-embargo releases and reports from the TUC. Visit www.tuc.org.uk/pressextranet
Contacts:
Media enquiries:
Rob Holdsworth T: 020 7467 1372 M: 07717 531150 E: rholdsworth@tuc.org.uk
Elly Brenchley T: 020 7467 1337 M: 07900 910624 E: ebrenchley@tuc.org.uk
Press release (600 words) issued 27 Oct 2008
