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National Stress Awareness Day: Start living - stop stressing
3 November 2010
Links:
ucl.ac.uk/hr/docs/stress.php" target="_self">UCL managing stress at work policy
Thursday 4 November is National Stress Awareness Day 2010. This year's theme is 'Start living - stop stressing'.
In what are uncertain times for the organisation and the education sector, stress awareness is something that UCL takes very seriously - as demonstrated by the Stress, Resilience and Well-being group (STRAW). STRAW reports to the Health and Safety Management Team and is made up of UCL staff from all levels.
Its purpose is to monitor the effectiveness of UCL policy and to make proposals to the Health and Safety Management team to help staff work effectively in times of pressure. They believe that UCL staff and management all have a role to play in reducing stress in the workplace.
Angela Graneek (UCL Occupational Health Services and chair of STRAW) explained: "Cases of work-related stress can be prevented as well as managed. Everyone in UCL has a responsibility in promoting a culture where individual and organisational health is central to achieving UCL's ambitions."
In order to raise awareness of the role of UCL and all levels of staff in promoting wellbeing at work the STRAW group have developed a poster: Managing People and their Wellbeing at Work Together.
The poster summarises UCL's framework for promoting wellbeing at work, the manager's responsibilities and the role of all staff. Loren Moyse (UCL Faculty of Life Sciences) explained: "Managers play a critical role in improving wellbeing at work and through working with their teams can have an important impact on the quality of working life."
Bill Lehm (UCL Library Services) added:"Work-related stress is a serious problem. Working together to tackle it effectively can result in significant benefits for the wellbeing of individuals and for organisations."
For an A3 size copy of this poster, please contact ohsadmin@ucl.ac.uk with your name, department and number of posters required.
The poster will also be available from the OH stand at the Staff Benefits Marketplace on 11th November 2010.
For details of UCL's policies that support wellbeing see the link at the top of the page.
What should managers know?
How effective are you at preventing and reducing stress in your staff?
How can you recognise if a colleague or member of your team may not be coping?
What can you do if one of your team reports feelings of stress?
How can colleagues help?
- Support colleagues and managers through good communication.
- Share knowledge and resources.
- Work with colleagues to seek constructive solutions to problems.
For help and guidance on managing stress in your working life, please visit the links at the top of this page.
Image: 'Stress' by HRC on Flickr. Some rights reserved.
UCL context
UCL Occupational Health aims to provide a comprehensive occupational health service to assist the organisation in promoting physical and psychological well being and prevent illness and injury arising from work activity. This is achieved by a proactive approach to the management of health in the work environment, advising on the effects of health on work and work on health.
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