Quick answer
Assess work factors that can cause harmful stress and act on the findings. Involve workers, examine demands, control, support, relationships, role and change, then assign practical improvements and review whether they work. The assessment is not a clinical diagnosis.
Why the assessment should examine the way work is organised
Pressure can arise from conflicting instructions, unmanageable demand or inadequate support. HSE’s stress risk-assessment guidance explains the employer’s duty to assess the risks and act on them.
Focus on work conditions the organisation can influence. Personal support may help a worker, but it does not by itself remove an unresolved organisational risk.
Use six areas to structure the discussion
| HSE area | Practical question for the team |
|---|---|
| Demands | Can the workload and pattern be achieved safely with the available resources? |
| Control | Where can workers influence how they perform the job? |
| Support | Is suitable help, information and equipment available? |
| Relationships | How are conflict and unacceptable behaviour addressed? |
| Role | Are responsibilities and priorities clear and compatible? |
| Change | Are changes discussed and communicated in a usable way? |
These questions apply HSE’s Management Standards to a team discussion. The Standards are a supported approach, rather than the only possible assessment method.
Combine worker input with relevant evidence
Talk with workers and their representatives in a way that allows concerns to be raised. Examine relevant work patterns, staffing, incident information and existing feedback. A survey can help, but its score does not explain every cause or complete the assessment.
Protect personal information and avoid conclusions that identify a person’s diagnosis from attendance, behaviour or a questionnaire. Where an individual needs clinical or occupational-health advice, arrange the appropriate route separately.
Agree changes that address the findings
Record the significant issues, affected work, existing controls, proposed changes, action owner and review point. HSE recommends proportionate findings that help communicate and manage the risks.
Check that the action actually changes the relevant work factor. Examples could include clearer priorities, a suitable resource decision, improved support or a better change process. Review with workers after implementation and when work changes.
For NI, use HSENI’s Management Standards guidance and the applicable framework.
Example: resolve conflicting priorities during service
A hospitality team receives competing instructions from two managers during peak periods. Workers report that they cannot tell which task takes priority. The assessment identifies role clarity and demand as matters to address.
The business agrees how priorities are set, who resolves conflicts and how changed instructions reach the team. It checks the arrangement during a real peak period and asks workers whether the conflict has reduced.
Common mistakes
- Collecting survey responses without an action owner.
- Offering resilience advice while leaving an identified work-system problem unchanged.
- Using absence figures as a diagnosis.
- Assuming no complaints means no risk.
Next steps
Start a proportionate discussion about one team’s work design. Record a small set of specific actions and review their effect with the people doing the job.
Use HSE’s stress risk-assessment resources — The official tools support organisational assessment and action; individual health concerns need suitable healthcare or occupational-health support.