The union body claims that employers are consistently failing to adequately assess and mitigate the inherent risks workplace stress.

A survey of 2,700 union safety representatives revealed this growing issue, with four out of five reporting stress as their primary concern within their workspace. Many survey respondents cited excessive workloads as a primary driver of stress, reportedly to unprecedented levels.

The TUC has called for the law requiring employers to assess and prevent work-related stress to be more stringently enforced and for excessive workloads to be cut.

Paul Nowak, the TUC general secretary, commented: “These findings expose a growing national crisis. Stress is now entrenched as the biggest health and safety issue facing working people, and the situation is getting worse."

“No worker should find themselves lying awake at night from stress, but too many employers are ignoring the law, failing to assess stress risks, and piling impossible workloads onto staff."

“Workers are burning out, and they are paying with their health. Employers and managers need to do more to identify and reduce risks and to provide support to employees struggling to cope.”

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