| Course Details | Length | Cost | Date |
| NEBOSH National General Cert in Occupational Health & Safety Exam dates (Burton-on-Trent) |
2 weeks | £1299 | 31/10/2011 – 04/11/2011 14/11/2011 – 18/11/2011 30/11/2011 – 01/12/2011 |
Stress Management has never been more relevant than it is today. According to recent research by the Insurance Company AXA, stress levels have doubled in four years and the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development has stated that more than one in three employers said time-off through stress has increased.
A little bit of pressure can:
- Increase productivity
- Improve performancebe motivating
However, too much pressure or prolonged pressure can lead to stress, which is both unhealthy for the mind and the body. It can cause symptoms such as:
- Difficulty concentrating
- Sweating
- Difficulty sleeping
- Lack of appetite
In November 2010 the Mental Health Foundation conducted research to find out the most common causes of stress. When provided with a definition of stress and list of its symptoms, half of all respondents revealed that they feel stressed at least once a week, with one in five (21%) feeling stressed every day. Money-related issues, such as debt or being unable to pay for essentials like food or rent, were given as the main cause of stress for 28% of Britons – the biggest single cause. Work-related issues, such as the threat of redundancies or having too much work to do, were the second most common cause (27%) and reflect recent Health and Safety Executive (HSE) research, with stress now being cited as the biggest cause of workplace absenteeism.
With this is mind, it is essential that managers become adept at recognising the signs of stress and manage the work environment well to help reduce stress. Staff too, need to identify their own stressors, learn how to manage them and see how their behaviour may impact on the stress of their colleagues. The HSE published the Management Standards for Work Related Stress a number of years ago. The standards cover six key areas of work design which target the primary sources of stress at work:
- Demands – this includes issues such as workload, work patterns and the work environment.
- Control – how much say the person has in the way they do their work.
- Support – this includes the encouragement of sponsorship and resources provided by the organisation, line management and colleagues.
- Relationships – this includes promoting positive working to avoid conflict and dealing with unacceptable behaviour.
- Role – whether people understand their role within the organisation and whether the organisation ensures that they do not have conflicting roles.
- Change – how organisational change (large and small) is managed and communicated within the organisation.
For more information about work related stress management visit the HSE website where information about stress management and a wide range of resources, tools and links are available. At SSFB, we work with a number of occupational health professionals and stress management trainers to provide an integrated approach to health and safety management. For more information about how we can help your business drop us an email or call us on 0333 321 0131.
ISO9004:2009 is the guidance document for ISO9001. It explains the paragraphs of the standard in reasonably plain English and takes the implementation of the standard beyond compliance. It’s not only an important standard for anyone implementing the ISO9001 quality standard, it also provides some really useful guidance for anyone who just wants to look at their business with fresh eyes and improve performance.
The standard defines eight key quality management principles that are fundamental to the success of any business:
- Customer focus
- Leadership
- Involvement of people
- Process approach
- System approach to management
- Continual improvement
- Decision making based on facts
- Mutually beneficial supplier relationships
Each month we take one of the principles and look at the key benefits and how they can be applied in any business.
Principle 3 – Involvement of people
People make a company tick and their full involvement, at all levels, enables their abilities to be used for the benefit of the company.
Applying the ISO9004 principles of people involvement should lead to:
- People understanding the importance of their contribution and role in the organisation.
- People identifying constraints to their performance.
- People accepting ownership of problems and their responsibility for solving them.
- People evaluating their performance against their personal goals and objectives.
- People actively seeking opportunities to enhance their competence, knowledge and experience.
- People freely sharing knowledge and experience.
- People openly discussing problems and issues.
Key benefits:
- Motivated, committed and involved people within the organisation.
- Innovation and creativity in furthering the organisation’s objectives.
- People being accountable for their own performance.
- People eager to participate in and contribute to continual improvement.
To find out more about the principles of good quality management and how it can help your business drop us an email or call us on 0333 321 0131.
| Course Details | Location | Length | Cost | Date |
| HSE Emergency First Aid at Work | Abingdon | 1 day | £95 | 31/10/2011 |
Harry James (SSFB sponsored swimmer) represented Wantage White Horses at the two-day Northsea Open Meet Level 3 in Portsmouth on 8th and 9th October 2011.
Swimming at the Alexandra Park’s 50m Olympic pool, Harry produced five personal bests, winning gold medals for the 50m and 100m backstroke in 30.04secs and 1min 05.20 secs respectively, plus the 50m, 100m and 200m breaststroke. He also won silver in the 100m freestyle.
The health and safety responsibility for agency workers has often fallen into a grey area in the past. Is it the contractor, the agency or the umbrella company that has primary responsibility? The Agency Workers Directive concentrate on employment rights and the law, but health and safety falls within it. Click here to find out more.