Completing a Workplace Pressures Risk Assessment

The stress reaction can present itself in any colleague. To identify a team member who would benefit from this process, you could consider:

• Has a member of staff reported to HR / Manager / Union Representative that they are struggling to cope?
• Has behaviour indicated that a member of staff may be feeling stressed (see HSE guidance)? 
• Has a member of staff has reporting absence from work cited work-related stress as the reason for their absence?
• Have they just returned from a period of sickness for a prolonged period of time?

This process should support a healthy and well-planned return to work.

The Workplace Pressures Risk Assessment tool can also be used proactively, for example during PDRs or routine 1-1s, to explore work pressures and identify any early need for additional support or adjustments. Proactive use of the WPRA may be particularly beneficial during periods of change or increased pressure. This tool should NOT be used prior to employment.

To prepare for an assessment, you should consider the following:

• Agree a suitable venue and time with the member of staff
• Agree who will be there. It is not appropriate to have multiple people in the room for this. The employee can be supported by a friend or colleague, but this must not be entered into like a tribunal or employment dispute. The employee should be able to feel comfortable to be open about issues they are facing
• Be prepared – ensure you have understood the employee's concerns (if raised before the session)
• Prepare the environment. Switch off phones and emails and ensure you are not going to be disturbed by anyone else. Try to arrange furniture to ensure it is a supportive space and not feeling like an interview room
• Prepare yourself. You need to feel calm and ready to support this colleague. Having things on your mind or worrying about your next meeting is not going to yield the best outcome. It may be a good idea to try and keep your diary free for a couple of hours – it may take longer than you expect and it wouldn’t be appropriate to have to leave mid-way through the assessment
• You could consider having a conversation with the University EAP prior to the session to help you prepare – the Spectrum Life team are available to help managers prepare for this type of conversation. Other useful resources include the Mindful Employer Line Managers’ Resource and ACAS guidance on Promoting Positive Mental Health in the Workplace

You will need a blank Workplace Pressures Risk Assessment recording sheet and will complete the assessment either by hand or on screen as the conversation unfolds. At the beginning of the meeting you should:

• Set out the process that you are going to be taking the staff member through (i.e. show them the tool and explain how it is used)
• Explain the aims of the process and that you would like to try and identify the triggers to enable you and the employee to work out solutions to take forwards
• Ask your colleague to be as open as they feel able. Suggest that you can stop at any time if things become too difficult
• Explain that you anticipate it will take an hour, but you have plenty of time so no need to watch the clock
• You should listen carefully and let the employee have time to explain how they feel. During the assessment, you need to ask the employee to try and quantify how each trigger is affecting them (e.g. enabling wellbeing to reducing wellbeing, Red, Amber, Blue or Green).

Things to avoid in the assessment process:

• Talking about yourself. This is about how your colleague feels about particular issues. Try and listen and understand why they feel as they do
• Dismissing issues. These are real for your colleague so make attempts to understand why they feel as they do
• Making promises you cannot keep. You must ensure that all actions agreed are realistic and achievable. If you do not know if something is possible, suggest that you will go and find out

At the end of the assessment summarise the steps that you will now take and the steps that the employee will be taking to resolve the issues. It is acceptable to ask the employee to agree to take personal steps to address issues.

If you are not sure how something can / should be taken forward, commit to finding out and add this to the action plan. For any areas that you need assistance with, you need to be clear with the employee that you will need to seek advice/support from your manager/HR etc. to find a suitable solution. This includes advice on reasonable adjustments.

Agree the action plan.  Where the employee has indicated a Red or Amber score these areas should be the focus for action. It may be appropriate to include actions around blue or green outcomes if there is a link between the issues.

Agree a date for evaluating / implementing the reasonable adjustments. These can be short, medium or long term adjustments.

Set a date for reviewing progress. Review dates can be agreed between you. Ideally the first review is no longer than one month after the initial assessment. It may be more appropriate to have a review within the week / next two weeks depending on the nature of the trigger.

During the next review, focus on the actions and identify if they have been carried out and discuss how effective the actions are being. Agree the date of the next review. You should review your employee’s progress at least three times.

If you are concerned that the actions are not making a difference and the employee is still stressed / anxious you should consider a referral to Occupational Health.