Stress 'now leading cause of sick leave'

Until recently the most common causes of long-term sick leave and benefits claims were musculoskeletal disorders, in particular lower back pain. However, this has now changed, according to experts writing in the British Medical Journal.

They claimed that research had shown how common mental disorders, such as work-related stress and depression, were now more frequently reported in cases of employees being off work.

"Mental and behavioural disorders now account for more incapacity benefit claims than musculoskeletal disorders," they said. "This has occurred despite no apparent increase, except for alcohol dependence, in their prevalence."

As a result of increasing concern over the impact of stress-related illness, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) recently published guidelines on the management of stress at work.

Occupational support

Since 1995 the number of people reporting stress that was caused or made worse by their work has doubled, according to the researchers including Max Henderson from the Institute of Psychiatry in London.

They said that depression and anxiety were almost entirely managed in primary care, with effective treatments including antidepressants and counselling.

"Patients tend to prefer psychological therapies, but with a limited capacity to provide them the waiting times are commonly long,'' the researchers said.

They added that occupational physicians were best able to help these patients, but the UK had "very poor provision" in occupational health - one specialist for every 43,000 workers - compared to the rest of Europe.

"Innovative policies, possibly requiring major expansion in occupational health and provision of psychological therapy service in primary care will be required alongside research into the most effective and cost effective methods of delivering service.

"This would be a wise investment given the substantial economic and social costs engendered by the current service framework," the researchers concluded.

Stress study

A recent study by law firm ASB, found that 80% of firms had failed to undertake audits to identify likely causes of stress in their workplace, despite the recent HSE management guidelines. Out of the few that had carried out audits, only 18% had then developed appropriate policies. 

Rebecca Thornley-Gibson, head of employment law at ASB said:  "Employers have a legal duty of care towards their staff, and this includes implementing effective policies to minimise the impact of stress-related illness.

"Our survey indicates that employers have two attitudes towards tackling stress.  The first is to treat it merely as the latest 'fad' - like RSI or ME had been dismissed in the past - and not worth taking seriously.

"In the second camp, companies acknowledge the problem, but they simply can't get to grips with it. They don't know how to run stress audits, what questions to ask, how to assimilate the information or, indeed, how to use the results in a practical manner."

The ASB study also revealed that 60% of firms failed to monitor stress-related absence and almost 50% were "totally unaware or unsure" of their legal obligations.