Requesting a workplace stress risk assessment

HSE guidance covers England, Wales and Scotland. Northern Ireland has separate health and safety law and HSENI guidance. This guide helps staff discuss work risks with their employer. General information, not legal advice.

Ask for an assessment of the work causing pressure

HSE stress guidance (opens another website) says employers must assess work-related stress risks and act on the findings. For organisations with five or more workers, HSE says the risk assessment must be written down. Smaller employers still need to assess and address risks, even where a written record is not required.

Address the request to the manager responsible for the work, using the employer's health and safety arrangements. Ask which existing assessment covers your team and when staff will be consulted. If several employers share a site or you work through an agency, identify who controls the work and ask your agency or union which contacts need to be involved.

Bring examples which identify a work hazard

Choose examples showing how work is organised. Record the shift or setting, the task, the problem and the effect on the work. Avoid copying patient records or sharing a colleague's health information. Use the safe workplace record guide for handling your own notes.

A pharmacy team might report repeated interruptions during accuracy checks, alongside a rota with no planned cover for telephone queries. A ward team might describe conflicting instructions about who coordinates admissions during breaks. Both examples identify work arrangements a manager can examine. Ask affected staff how the problem appears on different shifts.

The HSE Management Standards profile explains the six areas of work design. Pick the relevant area to help organise your examples, rather than trying to score every standard without the employer's involvement.

Check the action record before the meeting ends

HSE action-planning guidance (opens another website) says actions need priorities, resources, responsibility and realistic timescales. Ask the manager to explain which measure reduces each identified risk. A description such as 'staff to manage workload' leaves the underlying work arrangement unresolved.

For the interrupted checking example, a proposed control might be a named colleague handling queries during designated checking periods. Ask who will arrange cover, what happens when cover is absent and how the team will report remaining interruptions. This is a discussion example, not a universal staffing rule.

Use a conversation tool alongside risk management

The HSE Talking Toolkits (opens another website) help managers and workers discuss causes of stress and possible changes. HSE provides NHS versions for England, Scotland and Wales. The toolkits support conversations but should not be the organisation's only measure. Identified risks still need action.

Ask what will happen to concerns raised through a survey or meeting. Who will read the findings? How will staff hear the decisions? Where will issues beyond the local manager's authority go? Agree how sensitive personal concerns can be raised separately from the shared team record.

Individual support remains useful alongside changes to the work. An occupational health assessment addresses health and duties, while reasonable adjustments address a particular worker's disability-related disadvantage. Neither process removes the need to examine shared hazards.

Review whether the changes helped

HSE review guidance (opens another website) distinguishes checking whether agreed actions happened from checking whether those actions helped. Record both. Ask staff about their experience after implementation, and compare the result with the problem recorded at the start.

Review sooner when a control fails or work changes, rather than waiting for the scheduled meeting. If cover existed on paper but was repeatedly reassigned, record the gap and ask the owner for a revised arrangement. If a measure works on days but not nights, bring the night team into the review.

Northern Ireland and unresolved concerns

HSENI explains Northern Ireland employer duties (opens another website) to assess stress-related risks and control those risks. HSENI uses the same six Management Standards but operates under Northern Ireland legislation. Use the Northern Ireland support page for local employment advice.

If agreed measures do not happen, keep the action record and raise the outstanding points through your manager, health and safety representative or union. A personal employment dispute may need separate advice. If distress needs urgent attention, use urgent support alongside the workplace process.