Stress is a major concern for staff in further and higher education. Rising workloads, poor management culture, excessive audit and inspection, job insecurity and poor facilities have all contributed to rising concern over stress and its causes. In response, NATFHE is launching a range of initiatives.

A new guide for branches - Dealing with Individual Stress Cases (Word doc) - advises branches on supporting individuals, using health and safety and other legal rights, and collective campaigns on stress and the causes of stress.

Stress at Work - A Guide for NATFHE Safety Reps and Branch Officers (Word doc) contains authoritative advice and an overview on health and safety aspects of tackling stress at work

The NATFHE Stress Flowchart (Word doc) complements the Stress at Work Guide by setting out clearly the steps to follow.

The NATFHE Safe Working Practices document (Word doc) advises branches on how to ensure their institutions adopt safe working practices that prevent the emergence of risks.

NATFHE’s Guide to Completing Risk Assessments on Stress (Word doc) explains how to complete a risk assessment for stress and should be read together with the NATFHE Model Stress Risk Assessment document (Word doc).

The Hours Monitoring Form (Word doc) is a systematic approach to monitoring working hours and is accompanied by the Hours Monitoring Explanation (Word doc)

The risk assessment tool draws heavily on the national agreement in FE with the Association of Colleges (the employers) (Word doc) and the Health and Safety Executive guidance on the Management of Stress at work.

The NATFHE model stress questionnaire can be used to help branches gather information on stress levels in the institution to present to management.

The NATFHE Teacher Support Network Help Line gives support to individual members suffering stress.

An increasing body of academic work is starting to monitor and survey stress levels in further and higher education.

HEFCE has commissioned the University of Plymouth to conduct a three-year nationwide study of occupational stress in UK Higher Education Institutions (HEIs).

The Labour Research Department has published an excellent introduction to stress at work.

The HSE management standards on tackling work related stress can be downloaded from the HSE website. The standards include detailed advice on how to complete a risk assessment on work related stress. While this is not the approved code of practice on work related stress that NATFHE would like to see, it is a step forward on the main health and safety hazard facing lecturers.

Another approach to reducing stress is an effective workload agreement. Your regional office can provide you with examples of such agreements.

NATFHE toolkits provide advice for branches and links to other sources of information. Anyone seeking specific advice in respect of the issues covered by this toolkit should consult their branch officers in the first instance, who in turn may need to take advice from NATFHE regional officials. Important time limits often apply; for further information about these or if you are seeking to pursue a legal claim on the issues covered in this toolkit, you should not rely on the toolkit alone but should seek additional advice from the union.