Organisations ignoring stress at risk of personal injury claims?

Personal injury claims from those suffering stress in the workplace may increase if organisations do not do enough to mitigate its harmful effects, according to one body.

A guide entitled 'Work-related stress: what the law says' has been published by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and highlights the potential for personal injury litigation if companies do not take appropriate risk-reducing measures.

Dame Carol Black, national director for health and work, opined: "It is in employers' interests to manage stress at work proactively … particularly in a tough economic environment where many employees are under pressure to do more with less."

The legal obligations of enterprises are set out, alongside recent examples where firms failed to install adequate measures and ended up have to pay compensation to workers.

Research by Mind revealed one-in-ten Britons visited their doctor for mental health support due to recession-induced stress in the 12 months leading up to May 2010.