The Health and Safety Executive has published updated Management Standards for work-related stress, the first significant revision since the Standards were introduced in 2004. The updated Standards reflect two decades of research into workplace stress and incorporate guidance on issues that did not exist when the original Standards were developed, including hybrid working, always-on culture, and the mental health impacts of remote isolation.
The Six Management Standards
The HSE's Management Standards identify six key areas of work design that, if not properly managed, are associated with poor health and wellbeing, lower productivity, and increased sickness absence. The six areas are: demands, control, support, relationships, role, and change. The updated Standards retain this framework while providing more detailed guidance on each area.
New Guidance on Hybrid Working
The updated Standards include a new section on hybrid and remote working, acknowledging that the shift to flexible working arrangements has created new stress risks alongside its well-documented benefits. The guidance identifies social isolation, difficulty switching off from work, and inequitable treatment between remote and office-based workers as the primary hybrid working stress risks.
Line Manager Capability
The updated Standards place significantly greater emphasis on the role of line managers in preventing and managing work-related stress. The HSE notes that research consistently identifies poor management behaviour as the primary driver of work-related stress, and that investment in management training produces the highest return of any stress prevention intervention.